Brazil, Switzerland advance

MOSCOW — Worried no more, Brazil is through at the World Cup.

Paulinho and Thiago Silva scored a goal each Wednesday to give the five-time champions a 2-0 victory over Serbia and first place in their group.

Brazil struggled in its opening two matches, first held to a 1-1 draw and then needing late goals to win the other. But it controlled this one, and it was a big relief to Tite.

“I’m apparently at peace,” the Brazil coach said. “I’m still going to have a drink tonight for sure, a caipirinha. I’ll allow myself.”

Paulinho gave his team the lead when he met a lofted ball from Philippe Coutinho in the 36th minute. The defensive midfielder let the ball bounce in front of him near the penalty spot and kicked his right leg in the air to tap it Brazil’s Gabriel Jesus, left, fights for the ball with Serbia’s Nemanja Matic during the Group E match in Moscow.

over the goalkeeper’s fingertips.

Silva later scored with a powerful header in the 68th from Neymar’s corner.

Brazil finished first in Group E and will next face Mexico in the round of 16 on Monday in Samara. Serbia was eliminated, finishing third in the group behind Switzerland.

Both of Brazil’s goals came when Serbia threatened to get back into the match.

The Serbs nearly scored in the 61st when Brazil goalkeeper Alisson pushed the ball into the path of forward Aleksandar Mitrovic, whose shot bounced off the keeper and was bound for goal before being cleared by Silva.

“In the second half, we tried to play with more risk,” Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic said. “We had chances to equalize, but we missed our chances and we were punished.”

For most of the first half, Brazil couldn’t break through Serbia’s compact back line. But Paulinho, the player that Tite calls his “secret weapon,” lived up to his name by scoring the first goal at Spartak Stadium.

SWITZERLAND 2, COSTA RICA 2: Switzerland is through to a knockout game against Sweden. Half of its starting defense isn’t. Switzerland qualified second in Group E behind Brazil despite twice losing the lead in a draw with Costa Rica in Nizhny Novgorod. The riveting game culminated with an injury-time penalty from Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz that hit the crossbar and went in off Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s head. Despite the late drama, a draw was enough to send Switzerland through to the knockout stage. But the bad news for the Swiss: Yellow cards for captain Stephan Lichtsteiner and fellow defender Fabian Schaer — their second of the tournament — meant they’ll be suspended for the Sweden match Tuesday in St. Petersburg. Their absence leaves two gaping holes to be filled at the back as Switzerland chases a place in the quarterfinals of the World Cup for the first time since 1954. “This is certainly not an ideal scenario,” Switzerland midfielder Blerim Dzemaili said. “We don’t need to look at who’s not there, we need to look at who will be able to play. This is very disappointing.” Dzemaili slammed in Switzerland’s first goal from close range after being set up by a header from Breel Embolo. Costa Rica got its first goal in Russia when defender Kendall Waston headed in a corner early in the second to equalize. Substitute Josip Drmic put Switzerland 2-1 up in the 88th minute. MARADONA OK: Argentina great Diego Maradona said he is well after requiring medical treatment at a game on Tuesday. Footage posted on social media showed Maradona apparently disoriented and being helped to climb stairs at Argentina’s 2-1 win over Nigeria on Tuesday. Maradona said he was dizzy and his “neck hurt a lot,” so he was examined at the stadium.