Brazil 1-1 Morocco: Ancelotti's men scrape one point as Vinicius scores equalizer

Vinicius Junior and Alisson ensured Brazil earned a point in their World Cup opener, as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Morocco.

Match Highlight

https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexicousa2026/highlights

Match Report 

The Atlas Lions got their reward for a stellar start when Ismael Saibari punished poor defending, but Vinicius, along with Alisson's late heroics, ensured Carlo Ancelotti's first World Cup match did not end in defeat.

Morocco took the game to Brazil from the first whistle, leading the shot count 5-1 within the opening 10 minutes, though none of those tested Alisson.

But in the 21st minute, Ancelotti's side were cut wide open. Brahim Diaz slid a lovely throughball into Saibari, who had acres of space between the centre-backs to lift a lovely chip over Alisson, who rushed out of his box.

Achraf Hakimi almost punished Brazil's lax defending a second time shortly after, but his low effort fizzed just wide of the far post.

Vinicius dragged his team back onto level terms in the 32nd minute, though, cutting inside to whip a thunderous shot past a helpless Yassine Bounou to mark his 50th Brazil appearance with a stunning goal.

Lucas Paqueta could have put Brazil in front before the break, meeting a left-sided cross with an acrobatic volley, but Bounou was alert to push the effort away.

A more subdued second half saw Brazil up the pressure late on without causing too many real problems, as Mohamed Ouahbi's side defended resolutely.

And it was Morocco who almost forced a late winner, but Alisson got down sharply to make a brilliant double save to keep out Neil El Aynaoui from distance and Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab on the follow-up.

Morocco show credentials as Brazil fall short of comeback

Brazil are a daunting prospect in the early stages of the World Cup, having topped their first-round group in every World Cup since 1982, and now, they have not lost their opening match since 1934 (against Spain, W17 D4 since).

However, Morocco showed no signs of fear as they recorded the first four attempts of the game, while it was only the second time in the tournament's history that Brazil have faced five shots in the first 10 minutes of a game (since 1966).

In fact, they had 12 shots within the opening 30 minutes, more than the Selecao had conceded in any of their previous six full World Cup matches, but after that, the chances dried up for Morocco. In fact, they only managed two more, with both of those coming in the 99th minute.

Vinicius more than played his part too, scoring his 10th goal for Brazil, with three of those coming on United States soil. However, his 100% winning record when scoring (eight prior to this match) has now ended. 

He has certainly made his case as the leading man, with Neymar still not fit enough to play, but Ancelotti has work to do as Morocco proved they can threaten for top spot.

Line-ups

Brazil XI: Alisson, Casemiro, Marquinhos, Douglas, Guimaraes, Raphinha, Gabriel, Paqueta, Vinicius, Ibanez, Igor Thiago

Subs: Weverton, Danilo, Sandro, Ederson, Fabinho, Léo Pereira, Gleison, Matheus Cunha, Martinelli, Éderson, Luiz Henrique, Danilo Santos, Endrick, Rayan

Morocco XI: Bounou, Diop, Mazraoui, Hakimi, Brahim, Neil El Aynaoui, Azzedine Ounahi, Ismael Saibari, Chadi Riad, Bilal El Khannouss, Ayyoub Bouaddi

Subs: Munir, Marwane Saadane, Amrabat, A. Tagnaouti, A. El Kaabi, Soufiane Rahimi, Anass Salah-Eddine, Youssef Belammari, Zakaria El Ouahdi, Redouane Halhal, Amine Sbaï, Ayoube Amaimouni-Echghouyab, Chemsdine Talbi, Samir El Mourabet, Gessime Yassine