World Cup 2026: Brazil, Morocco head into halftime level at 1-1

Brazil and Morocco headed into halftime level at 1-1 in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C opener at the New York/New Jersey Stadium on Saturday.

Brazil were slightly ahead in terms of possession, but Morocco were more threatening, attempting 12 shots compared to Carlo Ancelotti’s team’s six, with both teams registering two shots on target.

Ismael Saibari opened the scoring for the African side, with a right-footed shot from outside the box to the centre of the goal in the 21st minute, when Brahim Diaz created the chance with a through ball.

It didn’t take long for Vinicius Junior to score an absolute belter to level the game for his side, putting a right-footed shot from the left side of the box to the top right corner in the 32nd minute. Assisted by Bruno Guimaraes.

Brazil is dubbed as the favourite to win the competition alongside other strong contenders, like every World Cup, and Morocco is an exciting team that created history in the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Brazil were knocked out in the quarterfinals after a 1-1 draw with Croatia following extra time. The game was decided on a penalty shootout, where Croatia won 4-2.

Brazil starting XI:

Alisson Becker; Douglas Santos, Gabriel Magalhães, Marquinhos (c), Roger Ibañez; Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro, Lucas Paquetá; Vinícius Júnior, Raphinha, Igor Thiago.

Morocco starting XI:

Yassine Bounou; Noussair Mazraoui, Chadi Riad, Ilyas Diop, Achraf Hakimi (c); Ayyoub Bouaddi, Neil El Aynaoui; Bilal El Khannouss, Azzedine Ounahi, Brahim Díaz; Ilias Saibari.