Matheus Cunha Scored Twice in Front of Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. Brazil Might Have Found Its No. 9.

Carlo Ancelotti made a change up front for Brazil on Friday, and it paid off within 45 minutes.

Matheus Cunha started at striker against a World Cup opponent nobody expected to give him this much room. And he didn’t waste the opportunity. The Manchester United forward scored twice in the first half, with both Ronaldo and Ronaldinho sitting in the stands watching. That’s the kind of audience that makes a young player either shrink or show out. Cunha showed out.

The first goal was pure chaos

Vinicius Jr. ripped a shot from the left. The keeper spilled it. And there was Cunha, already moving toward the six-yard box, already reading the rebound before it happened. He didn’t smash it. He just got his body in front of the ball and let the physics do the rest. That’s not luck. That’s a striker who understands that half the job is being the first person to arrive at the mess.

The second goal was completely different. Cunha picked the ball up on the left side, sliced between two center backs on a diagonal run, and drilled it into the far post. Top corner. No deflection, no drama. Just a clean finish from a guy who suddenly looks like the answer to a question Brazil has been asking for a while.

Two goals. One half. A statement made.

It’s his first brace for the national team. And the timing couldn’t be better. Brazil has cycled through strikers since the last World Cup, trying to find someone who can actually finish the chances their attacking midfielders create. Richarlison had his moments. Pedro was promising before the injury. But Cunha offers something a little different — he’s comfortable dropping deep, but he also attacks the box like a guy who grew up playing No. 9 in the streets of Belo Horizonte.

Ancelotti didn’t overthink it. He put Cunha in the starting XI and trusted him. Now the question is whether he can keep that spot when Brazil faces whoever comes next. The answer probably depends on whether Cunha can do this consistently against better defenses. But for one Friday in June, with two legends watching from the stands, he looked like the real deal.

The last Brazil player to score a hat trick in a World Cup was Pelé. That was 1958. No pressure or anything.