World Cup 2014 report: Neymar again the inspiration for high-risk Brazil

Ney bother: Brazil's superstar terrorised Cameroon

The golden boy of Brazilian football stepped up his one-man mission to fire Brazil to the trophy, reinstalling himself as favourite for the Golden Boot in the process. Adam Shearwood reassesses both Brazilian and Mexican prospects in light of their Group A qualification.

It will be reported as the start of the samba for this Brazil team, however the truth is that they were too often troubled by a Cameroon side who put in their best showing of an abysmal campaign. The 4-1 scoreline points to a one-sided contest but there were moments in the aftermath of the African side's equaliser where they looked more likely to score again.

Betfair customers have taken note of the Selecao's high-risk performance against one of the weakest teams in the tournament, and were not drawn in by either the emphatic scoreline, or Brazil's success in securing the top spot in Group A. Perhaps aware that Chile will not so generously gift time and space to Phil Scolari's side, the odds on Brazil to win the trophy have remained unmoved at 4.3100/30.

Tonight, Brazil were once again thankful to the wispish Neymar, who moved his tournament tally to four with two excellent goals; both goals made to look ridiculously easy by an incredible talent.

With his brace, Neymar moved back to the head of the betting for Golden Boot - he's now 4.84/1 from 7.26/1 pre-match. While backers of an Any Unquoted scoreline before kick off - 2.6213/8 - had Fernandinho to thank for belatedly making good those bets by adding a late Brazilian fourth.

In the other game in Group A, Mexico assured their progress as runners-up with a fine second half performance. They triumphed 3-1 over Croatia - a scoreline that was available at 26.025/1 before kick off. 

It was the remarkable Rafael Marquez, in his fourth World Cup as national team captain, who gave the Mexicans the lead - and landed at In-Play first goalscorer odds of 50.049/1 for shrewd exchange backers.

Brazil are favoured at 1.684/6 to beat Chile in their Last 16 clash, while Mexico are rated about 3.711/4 outsiders to overcome the Netherlands.