Switzerland came up with a gritty, fighting performance to hold title contenders Brazil 1-1 in a Group E match of the FIFA World Cup here on Sunday. Both teams now have one point each. Serbia are at the top of the group with three points, thanks to their victory over Costa Rica earlier in the day. Brazil's laboured efforts in their campaign opener continued this World Cup's trend of big teams struggling to overcome lesser rated opponents. Fellow title contenders Germany, Argentina and Spain have also failed to win their respective opening matches.

Even though former champions Uruguay and France enjoyed winning starts, they were forced to struggle before eking out narrow wins over relatively weaker opponents. Brazil dominated the early stages of Sunday's match but the talented Swiss team gradually found their rhythm and started to create moves off the counter. Philippe Coutinho handed Brazil the lead with an in-swinging, dipping free-kick in the 20th minute. Switzerland made a strong comeback after the break with Steven Zuber exploiting some loose marking to head in the equalizer off a corner in the 50th minute.