Morocco held Brazil to a one-all draw in a fiercely contested match of Group C at the 2026 World Cup.
Ismail Saibari got the first goal before Vinicius Jr. pulled one back for Brazil before a gyrating crowd at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The Atlas Lions have grown in ranks and ambitions since their fairytale run to the semi-final of the World Cup in Qatar.
Morocco reached the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) on home soil, and although they lost to Senegal, the Atlas Lions were crowned the champions of Africa by a landmark CAF ruling a few months after.
The exit of Walid Regrugui also never seemed to douse the team’s appetite, with Mohamed Ouahbi, the head coach of the country’s men’s U-20 team that won the World Cup in 2025, tapped as a replacement.
Ouahbi had said his team would not let Brazil’s pedigree scare them into abandoning their strategy, and Morocco stuck to their guns despite Brazilian World Cup legends like Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaka being in the crowd.
Anyone new to football would think the country with the five World Cups was represented by the team in red for the first 20 minutes of the match.
Their dominance was crowned with a goal in the 21st minute after Brahim DÃaz carved open the Seleção defence with a defence-splitting pass, allowing Ismael Saibari to lift the ball over the oncoming Alisson Becker into the net.
The Moroccans continue to probe the cracks of the Carlo Ancelotti-led Brazilian side, which was without talismanic Neymar due to injury.
Brazil’s forward #07 Vinicius Junior scores his team’s first goal during the 2026 World Cup Group C football match between Brazil and Morocco at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on June 13, 2026. (Photo by Jewel SAMAD / AFP)
In the 32nd minute, however, Vinicius Jr demonstrated that Brazil do not need a prolonged spell of ball possession to conjure up magic.
The Real Madrid winger combined beautifully with Bruno Guimarães on the edge of the area before curling a right-footed effort past Yassine Bounou.