Roy Hodgson's side were forced to rely on the outstanding Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart to keep them alive in the contest at the first public airing of the rebuilt Maracana ahead of this month's Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup finals in Brazil.
Barcelona-bound Neymar was very much to the fore in the first half, but Hart was equal to his and his team-mates's best efforts to ensure England did not fall out of the game long before they had the chance to recover.
Hart - who touched the ball 64 times, more than any other England player in the game - was powerless to prevent Brazil from finding the opening goal on 57 minutes when Fred reacted quickest to slam a rebound into the net after Hernanes had slammed a shot from distance against the bar.
England restored parity 10 minutes later when teenager Oxlade-Chamberlain - on for Glen Johnson moments earlier - drilled a low shot into the corner of the net from Rooney's lay-off as the large crowd inside the ground were stunned almost to silence.
The band of travelling fans could suddenly be heard and were given more reason to celebrate when Rooney finished off a fine counter-attacking move involving James Milner to send an effort spinning high into the net via the frame of Fernando that left Julio Cesar with no chance in the home goal.
Rooney has scored in four successive appearances for England away from home which will not do him any harm if he is hellbent on earning a move away from Manchester United this summer.
Rooney could also have netted an equaliser for England moments before Oxlade-Chamberlain struck as he headed wide when left unmarked inside the home box with Milner knocking a deflected shot past as Brazil's lack of certainty in their own defence was suddenly exposed.
The hosts earned a deserved draw when Paulinho drove a volley into the corner of the net from substitute Lucas Moura's cross, but the result will not overly concern England manager Hodgson, whose side improved the longer the night went on. Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick seemed to grown in certainty when Oxlade-Chamberlain was introduced.
England could have been 6-0 down at half-time, but somehow depart the famous arena having come up narrowly short of replicating their famous 2-0 win over Brazil at the old Maracana in 1984 - a result that remains the last win by a European team over Brazil on their home patch.
Luiz Felipe Scolari's side have won just one of their past eight international games, drawing five and losing two. But he will be scratching his head about how this one eluded him after Neymar threatened to cut open the visitors at will early on in a balmy night.
For the record, Hart made two exceptional saves from Neymar in the first period with the forward also whacking a couple of shots wide of goal. Oscar and Hulk were also very much to the fore, but Walcott hinted at better times ahead for England when he forced Cesar to make a fine save on 38 minutes from Johnson's pass.
MAN OF THE MATCH : Joe Hart (England) - A superb performance from Joe Hart, who gave England the platform to earn a draw in the second half with a rousing recovery.
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