Twenty years on from their last World Cup title, Tite’s Brazil presented as a real threat to further their record with a sixth crown. They appeared on track to edge their quarter-final arm-wrestle with Croatia as Neymar struck the game’s opening goal in injury time only to watch it all go wrong, culminating in Marquinhos’ decisive penalty miss.
The Guardian’s Fernando Duarte runs the rule over the Selecao’s tournament and what it means for the legacies of Neymar, Tite et all, and surmises the emotion of a public that allowed themselves to believe they could go all the way.