With Brazil floundering in a dreadful first half, Carlo Ancelotti desperately looked for a saviour. Enter Vinicius Jr and a piece of exquisite skill that pierced the top right corner of Bono’s net, rescuing a point for the five-time world champions in their World Cup 2026 opener against Morocco.
The Real Madrid winger’s laser from the left side of the penalty area sparked an eruption of joy and relief in equal measure at MetLife Stadium in New York. It had been a grim start for Ancelotti’s side, who were given the run-around by a slick Morocco team. The African champions took the lead through Ismael Saibari, exposing the fragility of a Brazil midfield that saw Casemiro substituted at half-time after a shocking display. The veteran midfielder, who ended his Manchester United stay only last month, looked every one of his 34 years, treading water and unable to keep up with the North Africans. Ancelotti hooked him, making him the first World Cup victim of the new era.
“Vinicius Jr’s superb equaliser saved Brazil from defeat against Morocco, but Casemiro was hauled off at half-time in a worrying start.”
Brazil were sloppy in possession, awful defensively in the middle, and exposed on the right. Their wooden midfield, with Casemiro’s form at United obscured and Bruno Guimaraes uncomfortable around Morocco’s snapping midfielders, offered little. Only Morocco’s reluctance to shoot prevented further punishment. “Without talent you cannot win but balance is also very important,” Ancelotti had said, and that balance was glaringly absent.
This is Brazil’s first tournament under a foreign manager, with Ancelotti on a quest for the “rumo ao hexa” – the sixth World Cup. Parallels to 1994, the last time the USA hosted, are inevitable: a flawed Brazil side that leaned on individual brilliance to cover cracks. Then it was Romario and Bebeto; now it is Vinicius Jr. But Neymar Jr, a wildcard, was not even fit enough for the bench.
For half an hour, before Vinicius Jr turned up, Brazil were terrible. Then, after a pass from Bruno Guimaraes, the winger reset, gathered, and sent a shiver down the spine of the Morocco defence. The equaliser underlined Ancelotti’s ongoing struggle to find balance – a question that remains unanswered as this side chases a sixth star.