This was not how Brazil had scripted it. The five-times world champions were in control thanks to a Philippe Coutinho screamer and the first step of the mission to avenge the trauma from the previous finals looked set to be sure-footed.

Brazil swaggered about for much of the first half with Neymar – looking every inch the A-lister with his meticulously coiffured blond crop – the performer-in-chief. He repeatedly slowed to a halt in a flashy attempt to trick his marker into a rash move. Yet they were stunned when Steven Zuber headed the equaliser early in the second half and, despite a late onslaught, Brazil could not dig themselves out of the hole.

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It was self-inflicted. Brazil complained bitterly that Zuber’s goal ought to have been disallowed for a push on Miranda but the referee, César Ramos, was correct to ignore them. Yes, there was an element of levering for position but it was not enough to throw the centre-half off-balance. The bigger problem for Miranda was that he misread the flight of Xherdan Shaqiri’s corner and lost his man.

It was weak defending and with a priceless result within their grasp, Switzerland were in no mood to relinquish it. They dug deeper, their resolve hardening, although they rode their luck during a frenetic finale. By then, Brazil had dropped the swagger and belatedly, turned up the intensity. They created a flurry of chances but the ball would not go in.

Coutinho sliced wide when well-placed on 69 minutes before Neymar and the substitute Roberto Firmino headed too close to Yann Sommer. Miranda also dragged off target when gloriously placed and another substitute, Renato Augusto, had a close-range shot cleared to safety by Fabian Schär.

The other controversy came in the 74th minute when Gabriel Jesus felt Manuel Akanji put his arms around him as he ran on to a pass in the area. Jesus went down but the penalty appeal was waved away. The fall looked exaggerated but the contact was there. It was risky from Akanji although even Tite, the Brazil manager, did not complain too long about it. His grievance was all about the equaliser.

Brazil have cast themselves as avenging angels, even if the trauma of the 2014 World Cup – when they were humiliated 7-1 by Germany – might never truly leave them and they have not run from their status of favourites. Far from it. Neymar had posted a message on the eve of the game in which he declared himself unafraid of dreaming big. “Let’s go Brazil – for the sixth!” he wrote.

They started brightly and the breakthrough goal was a peach. Neymar popped the ball off to Marcelo and his cross was headed out by Zuber but only as far as Coutinho. The midfielder took a touch before shaping a right-foot curler into the far corner. Sommer dived at full stretch but there was nothing he could do.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Yann Sommer cannot get anywhere near Philippe Coutinho’s wonderful strike in the 20th minute. Photograph: Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

Tite had started Coutinho on the left of a midfield three, which had Paulinho on the right and Casemiro at the base, but he had scope to roam. So did Neymar. In fact Neymar was pretty much allowed to do whatever he wanted and that included a few bursts of dramatics. Switzerland’s Valon Behrami could be seen to laugh after one first-half tumble.

On the other hand there were plenty of times when his quicksilver movement was too much for Switzerland and rather than let him pass, they fouled him. The statistics showed that Neymar was fouled 10 times and, if there was nothing dangerous in the treatment, there was certainly a cynical edge to it. Stephan Lichtsteiner, Schär and Behrami were all booked for challenges on Neymar.

Brazil might have led earlier. Neymar combined with Coutinho to cross low and, when Schär got himself into a tangle, Paulinho sniffed out the close-range shooting chance. He went for the far corner, scuffing it slightly, only for Sommer to make a finger-tip save. The goalkeeper did not get the credit at the time, with Ramos awarding a goal-kick rather than a corner.

Blerim Dzemaili had lifted an early half-chance high from Shaqiri’s pass but the Swiss did nothing further as an attacking force in the first half. Brazil’s lead at the interval might have been greater. Thiago Silva glanced over from Neymar’s corner at the end of the period while moments earlier Akanji had snuffed out Jesus in a one-on-one last man duel.

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It was all Brazil and yet the game would turn sharply at the beginning of the second half. It was a soft way for Brazil to surrender the initiative and some of their players demanded Ramos refer the incident to VAR. Already such pleas are becoming a feature of the tournament. The referee did not do so and nor, presumably, was he advised to by the team of video officials

The setback shook Brazil and for 15 minutes or so they were gripped by opening-night nerves. Tite said he and the players felt the pressure and he used the word “anxiety”. They regrouped for the final push in which Neymar was prominent, although it was noted that he appeared to be feeling his right foot. He has only just returned from ankle and metatarsal damage.

On the balance of play Brazil deserved to win. They had 21 shots to Switzerland’s six but Tite could lament the lack of cutting edge. The Swiss celebrated the point. For Brazil it rang hollow.