It is a staggering fact that across 23 World Cups, not a single tournament has ever been won by a country whose national team was managed by a foreign coach — a genuinely mind-blowing statistic. But the Brazilian Football Confederation is clearly not the superstitious type, and they make their technical decisions on actual technical grounds — which is why Ancelotti was never ruled out of the selection process.
As always, the five-time world champions entered this tournament under the weight of enormous expectations. For Brazil, there is no other option but to win — everything else is a disappointment, and the earlier their march comes to an end, the greater the degree of shame they typically measure it by.
With Carlo, the maestro — widely regarded by many as one of the greatest club managers of all time — at the helm, the external pressure only intensifies.
Since the 2022 World Cup, Morocco can comfortably be described as a dark horse contender. But if I’m being honest, my expectations were set firmly on a strong Brazilian start and a comfortable Brazilian victory.
Well — that’s not quite what I got.
Barely 6-7 minutes in, Morocco were playing like they were the Brazilians — and Brazil were playing like a mid-table Championship side. The Seleção, of course, has never been just about winning; it’s about beauty, about the very best football has to offer. On the basis of this first match, that turns out to be the least of their problems.
Morocco, for their part, were genuinely enjoyable to watch — confident, technical, possession-based football, and it was plain to see that in terms of player combinations and ingrained automatisms, they were several steps ahead of their South American opponents.
Brazil began to find their feet somewhere around the 30th minute — by which point they were already 1–0 down — and a question started forming in my mind: could this be the worst Brazilian national team of all time, purely in terms of raw ability? I don’t have an answer to that just yet…
By the way, roughly 2 minutes in, Ancelotti fished a piece of chewing gum out of his pocket — and I’m fairly certain he single-handedly matched the annual gum consumption of a small Italian village within half an hour. I don’t know if he’s already the face of some chewing gum brand, but if he isn’t, someone should snap him up immediately — and frankly, a dedicated factory producing exclusively for him wouldn’t go amiss either.
Then came the 32nd minute and Vinícius’ goal — not the product of a beautifully constructed team move, but rather a flash of individual genius. Vinícius glided past his defender and fired into the far corner as if he were simply rounding a buoy.
And right at that moment I got a distinct Real Madrid vibe. How many times over the past decade have we seen Madrid come back from nowhere, from the canvas, pull through and then go on to win the Champions League in games where they weren’t even the better side? For that reason — and because of Ancelotti himself — even though I don’t see a great deal in this Brazilian squad, I can absolutely picture them marching all the way through on moments like this, one after another.
The second half was as flat as a freshly laid stretch of tarmac that’s been steamrolled smooth. Morocco kept up their solid, composed game, and running neck and neck in every sense — the stats included — they ground it down to a draw.
What was interesting was that Brazil tried an enormous amount of positional rotation alongside their substitutions — Ancelotti was experimenting. And at this point it’s worth factoring in that the preparation time and tactical infrastructure available to a national team simply cannot be compared to what a club side has at its disposal.
Stats Corner
On the stats, I’ll keep it brief: in expected goals, big chances, shots on target, shots on goal, duels won, and successful dribbles — Morocco outperformed their opponents across the board. And while Brazil didn’t exactly fall on their sword over the draw, all things considered, Morocco were the better side on the day.
Cultural Moment
A Brazilian samba dancer, mid-dance, pouring mint tea from a Moroccan teapot — a berrad — without missing a single step.
Highlights | Brazil 1-1 Morocco | FIFA World Cup 2026™
