Morocco walked away with a point against Brazil on Saturday, but they could easily have taken all three after a confident display in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup.
The Atlas Lions matched and even outplayed Brazil from the start and, for long periods, looked like the better team. They moved the ball well, pressed high and played with confidence against one of the tournament favourites.
Much of Morocco’s good work came in midfield, where Neil El Aynaoui and Ayyoub Bouaddi were outstanding. The pair won battles, kept possession and made life difficult for Brazil’s midfield trio of Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães and Lucas Paquetá, who struggled to feed their front line.
Morocco nearly scored after five minutes when El Aynaoui’s shot went just wide. The breakthrough came in the 20th minute when Ibrahim Diaz found Ismael Saibari with a well-weighted pass and the midfielder finished neatly to make it 1-0.
It was no more than Morocco deserved. Mohamed Ouahbi’s side controlled large parts of the first half and created the better chances.
Brazil found a way back in the 32nd minute when Vinicius Junior took advantage of a defensive mistake to score with his side’s first real chance of the match.
The second half saw Brazil push forward more often as coach Carlo Ancelotti made attacking changes. Morocco responded by staying organised and compact, making it difficult for Brazil to create clear chances.
Yassine Bounou was called into action several times towards the end of the game and made four important saves to keep Morocco level.
Morocco offered less going forward after the break but still looked dangerous on the counterattack and finished the match strongly.
The game ended 1-1, but Morocco will leave with plenty of confidence. They will face Scotland next Friday at 11 pm at the Boston Stadium in Massachusetts.
