Brazil looked out of sorts in the opening 30 minutes of their FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match against Morocco before Vinicius Junior pulled off a stunner to rescue the football giants to a 1-1 draw.
Vinicius’s trademark finish rescued Brazil after the first-half horror show where Ismael Saibari gave Morocco a deserved lead.
Brazil’s draw has raised several concerns for manager Carlo Ancelotti ahead of Friday’s match against Haiti. Even before the tournament began, Brazil’s weaknesses were clear. The team lacked creativity and control in midfield and did not have enough specialist full-backs.
Those concerns were reflected in Ancelotti’s squad selection. He picked only five midfielders in his 26-man squad and included just one natural right-back, Wesley. When Wesley was ruled out through injury, Ancelotti chose to call up another midfielder instead of a replacement right-back, leaving Brazil to rely on centre-backs in an unfamiliar role.
Against Morocco, that decision backfired.
Roger Ibanez, a centre-back who was asked to play on the right side of defence, struggled badly in the first half. He found it difficult to cope with the pace of Noussair Mazraoui and Bilal El Khannouss and repeatedly gave away possession with simple passing errors.
Morocco targeted Brazil’s right flank throughout the opening period. Lucas Paqueta also endured a difficult game and a mix-up between him and Ibanez led to the move that resulted in Saibari’s goal.
However, the performance that may concern Ancelotti the most was that of Casemiro.
The 34-year-old midfielder, who arrived at the tournament after an impressive season with Manchester United, had a poor game. He frequently lost possession, misplaced passes and was often caught out of position.
Ancelotti responded at half-time by replacing both Ibanez and Casemiro with Danilo and Fabinho. The changes made an immediate difference.
Danilo added stability to the defence, while former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho brought control and balance back to the middle of the pitch. Brazil looked far more organised after the break, dominated long periods of the game and created enough chances to believe they could still win. There was also a rethink in attack.
Ancelotti’s decision to start Brentford striker Igor Thiago ahead of Matheus Cunha, Luiz Henrique and Endrick did not work out. Thiago struggled to link up with Raphinha and Vinicius Junior and failed to make much of an impact before being substituted.
The introduction of Cunha and Luiz Henrique, along with Fabinho and Danilo, gave Brazil greater movement, more passing options and a clearer attacking shape.
After the match, Ancelotti admitted that Brazil had fallen below expectations but urged everyone not to overreact after the team’s opening game.
“I think we have to reassess what we did in this first match. We didn’t play well,” Ancelotti told in the press conference.
“There were a few issues: the team was unbalanced, we lost several balls, and we have to do better in that regard. We improved in the second half, but we cannot lose heart.
“This is the first match of the World Cup and we can’t judge ourselves as if the team should be perfect from the outset.”
