Never having qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament, Steve Clarke's men had also never beaten a South American side, and with only one goal scored in this edition of the showpiece, they would have their work cut out.
Awful start for Scotland
A win or a point would almost certainly see the Scots break their knockout stage duck and ease into the Round of 32, but even a narrow loss might see them qualify as one of the best third-placed sides.
What they needed was a good start against the Selecao to give them confidence across the 90+ minutes, so when Scott McKenna, one of four changes to the Scotland starting XI, dilly-dallied at the back in the seventh minute and allowed Rayan to divert his attempted clearance, there was a sense of foreboding as the ball fell to Vinicius Junior.
The striker rounded Angus Gunn and finished into an empty net for his third goal of the tournament. A third consecutive game scored in, saw him equal Jairzinho, Romario, Ronaldo and Rivaldo as the only Brazilians to manage such a feat.
Given that Brazil had avoided defeat in their last 12 matches when scoring first in a World Cup game, since a 1-2 loss to the Netherlands in July 2010, and Scotland had failed to win any of their last seven WC games when conceding first (since a victory over the Netherlands in June 1978), the writing was already on the wall.
Brazil in total control
It was a second goal conceded in the first 15 minutes of a game at this World Cup (Morocco was the other), too, with no other nation having done so more often.
The pressure from the Brazilians after they'd got their noses in front was incessant.
With Lucas Paqueta (85.7% pass completion), Casemiro (91.9%) and Bruno Guimaraes (84.4%) controlling the midfield, the Scots were finding it difficult to wrest control of the game.
Guimaraes, Matheus Cunha and Vini Jr. all had further efforts at goal before it looked like the latter had taken the game away from Scotland as he slotted home another on 24 minutes. Fortunately, VAR came to the Scots' rescue and the goal was disallowed for a foul on the last defender.
Vini Jr at the double
Vinicius was having a field day against a nervous back-line, however.
His movement, pace and speed of thought were playing havoc with McKenna and Jack Hendry's ability to remain solid in defence, and with the centre-back pairing consistently moving out of position, it left acres of space for others to lead the Scots a merry dance.
Efforts at goal from Lewis Ferguson and Kenny McLean were the briefest respite, with Ferguson much more active in a defensive sense, involving himself in 13 one-on-one duels, the most of any player from either side bar Vini Jr.
Even though John McGinn was winning the majority of his nine one-on-ones, and Scott McTominay was also putting in a shift in this regard (eight duels), as well as both players completing over 90% of their passes, the rhythm just wasn't there for the Scots.
Cunha had seen an effort cleared off the line as half-time approached, before another Scotland error allowed Guimaraes to float in a delicious cross, which evaded everyone apart from Vini Jr. at the far post.
A second goal in first-half stoppage time was the worst possible time for Scotland to concede, and in reality, it ended the game as a contest at that point.
Cunha ends the game as a contest
McTominay's on-target header minutes into the second-half may have made things interesting, had he not found Alisson's gloves, though at least the Napoli man was giving it his all in an attacking sense.
A player who has become Scotland's talisman, he would go on to have four efforts at goal, three of which were on target, as well as six touches in the Brazilian box, all of which were the best that any player from his side could muster on the night.
Two more attempts from Vini Jr., both on target, and efforts from Cunha and Paqueta gave a sense of pressure building once more, and sure enough, right on the hour, Guimaraes picked out Cunha to silence the Tartan Army with Brazil's third goal.
Lewis Ferguson continued to drive the Scots forward, if for nothing other than to try and restore some pride and perhaps grab a consolation effort.
By the end of the game, he had attempted 114 passes (no other Scotland player had attempted 80 passes or more in a single World Cup match), ahead of Gabriel Magalhaes' 107, the best showing from a Brazilian perspective.
Neymar's return
It had helped to contribute to Scotland's 66% collective possession after conceding the third goal, though it was all in vain.
A man-of-the-match showing from Vini Jr. included some more attempts towards the end of the game, the striker having a creditable eight shots at goal, five of which were on target.
Eight dribbles of which five were successful, and 15 attempted one-on-ones, nine of which were completed, added to a masterful showing.
Even that type of workmanlike performance didn't get the same acknowledgement as when Neymar came on for a late cameo, however, the supporters practically losing their collective minds as he entered the stage for the first time in this World Cup.
A few interesting footnotes to the match are that both goalkeepers made five saves, Brazil's 21 shots were the most in a single match at this WC, whilst Scotland's collective 500 passes attempted were also the most in the tournament.
Ultimately, Brazil's ability to take their chances and Scotland's penchant for contributing to their own downfall was the story of the game.