Vini Jr scores in Brazil’s World Cup opener on 50th cap

Vinicius Júnior celebrated his 50th cap for Brazil by finding the back of the net in a pre-World Cup friendly. The milestone goal adds another line to a résumé that already reads like a highlight reel.

Across his 50 appearances, he has scored 9 goals for the Seleção.

Brazil’s road to this moment

Brazil’s qualification for the 2026 tournament was far from comfortable. The team secured their spot through a narrow 1-0 victory over Paraguay back in June 2025. The player who scored that decisive goal? Vini Jr.

In a friendly against Panama on June 11, 2026, Brazil cruised to a 6-2 victory at the Maracanã Stadium. Vini Jr. opened the scoring from outside the box.

World Cup pedigree already on the books

This is not Vini Jr.’s first World Cup. He featured in the 2022 tournament in Qatar, where against Serbia in the group stage he provided the assist for Brazil’s opening goal. He then scored in the knockout round against South Korea.

The crypto angle, or lack thereof

Vini Jr. dipped a toe into the digital collectibles space with an NFT collection launched in early 2022 that showcased career highlights. His earlier NFT venture has not translated into any recent market activity tied to his milestones, and there are no verifiable connections between Vini Jr.’s current sporting achievements and any cryptocurrency assets, tokens, or blockchain projects.

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