Brazilian previews put Morocco at center of Ancelotti’s first World Cup test

Morocco enter their World Cup opener against Brazil with a recent win over the Seleção, a changed international standing and Brazilian media treating the match as the hardest start Carlo Ancelotti could have drawn in Group C.

The Atlas Lions face Brazil on June 13 at New York/New Jersey Stadium, in a match that will fall late Saturday night for Moroccan viewers. It is Morocco’s first game of the tournament and Brazil’s first World Cup match under Ancelotti.

Brazil won the first match 2-0 in Belém on October 9, 1997, when Morocco were preparing for the 1998 World Cup under Henri Michel. Denílson scored twice late.

The second meeting came less than a year later, at the World Cup in France. Brazil won 3-0 in Nantes through Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Bebeto, in the only competitive match between the two teams.

The third meeting belongs to the current Moroccan generation. On March 25, 2023, Morocco beat Brazil 2-1 at Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier. Sofiane Boufal opened the scoring, Casemiro equalized, and Abdelhamid Sabiri scored the winner in the 79th minute.

Brazilian coverage has not treated Morocco as a routine opening opponent. Exame described Brazil-Morocco as the hardest match of Brazil’s group stage, citing simulations by Fundação Getulio Vargas that gave Morocco a 35% chance of winning, compared with 32.4% for Brazil. The model’s most likely score was 0-0.

UOL columnist Juca Kfouri said Morocco appeared “more ready” than Brazil for the opener. He pointed to Morocco’s intensity in its 1-1 draw with Norway and said Brazil were likely to play in a more cautious way against a team ranked just one place behind them by FIFA.

Morocco do not enter the match needing to prove that they can compete with major teams, with Qatar 2022 having already changed that conversation. A result against Brazil would immediately affect the group, strengthen Morocco’s position before facing Scotland and Haiti, and move the Tangier win from a friendly reference into World Cup terms.

Brazil remain the stronger historical power and have the deeper tournament record, but Morocco enters this match with a clearer competitive identity than in 1998, and a recent win over the same opponent.