Vinicius Junior Rescues Brazil From Morocco Scare

Brazil battled back from behind to earn a 1-1 draw with Morocco in their 2026 World Cup opener at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday, June 14.

Ismael Saibari gave Mohamed Ouahbi’s side the lead midway through the first half with a well-taken goal, only for Vinicius Junior to hit back for the Canarinho 11 minutes later as the two teams shared the spoils in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Brazil just shaded the possession stakes in the first half, but Morocco looked more dangerous and had the first sniff at goal on seven minutes when Achraf Hakimi found space inside the box, only to drag his shot wide of the left post.

The South American giants threatened for the first time seven minutes later as Igor Thiago ran onto a lofted pass on the edge of the six-yard box before heading the ball wide of the right post.

They were stunned on 21 minutes though, after a bit of magic from Saibari saw him collect the ball from Brahim Diaz and lob Alisson from the edge of the box, having spotted the goalkeeper off his line.

Hakimi attempted to double the Atlas Lions’ lead on 27 minutes with a shot from 18 yards out that flew wide of the left post following a mazy run, although Carlo Ancelotti’s side got themselves back in the contest five minutes later.

There was nothing Yassine Bounou could do but watch as Vinicius Junior took aim from inside the box and his shot flew into the top right corner of the net to level matters.

Lucas Paqueta was presented with a glorious chance to put Brazil ahead on the stroke of half-time, but he failed to beat Bounou with a first-time shot from an unmarked position inside the area that the goalkeeper managed to turn behind for a corner.

The second half was more evenly contested and it was Brazil who went close in the opening stages on this occasion when Thiago latched onto a defence-splitting pass and produced an outstanding save from Bounou on 52 minutes.

Bounou was called into action again in the 78th minute as he denied Raphinha with his legs after the Barcelona forward got off a first-time shot inside a packed penalty area.

The Al-Hilal shot-stopper had to be at his best again in the third minute of stoppage time to thwart Danilo Santos with a brilliant save to prevent the Canarinho from snatching a late winner, while Alisson denied Morocco all three points at the death with a superb save to keep out Neil El Aynaoui’s long-range strike before blocking Ayoube Amaimouni’s effort on the rebound.