Brazil and Morocco played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in the opening match of group C at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament.
Ismael Saibari opened the scoring for the five-time world champions with a sublime goal after a wonderful pass from Brahim Diaz, but Vinicius Junior super strike cancelled out the effort in the first half.
Both sides shared the spoils and remain on one point, while Scotland play Haiti in the other group game later.
Vinicius Junior cancels out Saibari’s strike
Morocco were off the blocks quickly and had several attempts blocked by Brazil, who struggled to string passes together in the opening exchanges.
However, the South American giants had the best chance of the opening exchanges, but Igor Thiago could not make good contact with a superb delivery from Vinicius. Morocco then took the lead in the 21st minute as Brahim Diaz threaded a defence splitting pass through to Saibari, who dinked the ball over Alisson into the net.
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The African champions continued their dominance, but Brazil leveled the scores soon through a moment of brilliance from Vinicius. The Real Madrid winger picked up the ball and curled a wonderful effort past Bounou into the corner.
Lucas Paqueta, who had been anonymous in the game, almost put Brazil in front with an improvised finish, but his strike was pushed away for a corner kick as the first half ended in a 1-1 result.
Thiago had the first chance of the second half, but his attempt was saved by Bono, with the game played out at a much slower pace than the first half.
There was very little to separate both sides in the clash, with chances very few among both teams as they were content with avoiding defeat.
Morocco almost snatched the lead at the death through El Aynaoui, but his long range effort was saved by Alisson. The Liverpool goalkeeper had to be quick off the ground to also deny El Mourabet from the follow-up, as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Key Stats
Ball Possession: Brazil 51% – 49% Morocco
Total Shots: Brazil 13 – 14 Morocco
Shots on target: Brazil 5 – 3 Morocco
Pass Accuracy: Brazil 88% – 86% Morocco
Corners: Brazil 6 – 2 Morocco
What Next?
Brazil will now face Haiti in their next match in the early hours of Saturday, while Morocco face off against Scotland in the other group encounter as both sides hope for a win to edge closer to the next round.
