Vinicius draws Brazil’s lowest score against Morocco giants at World Cup | World Cup 2026 news

Vinicius Jr’s individual effort boosted Brazil’s fightback in the team’s 2026 opening match against African champions Morocco.

Vinicius Junior scored Brazil’s best goal in a 1-1 draw with Morocco as the five-time World Cup winners made a difficult start in New Jersey.

Ismael Saibari raced in to give Morocco a 21st-minute lead with a clever scoop in Saturday’s Group C opener, but Vinicius produced a moment of magic to ensure Brazil would come away with a point.

Brazil are chasing a record sixth World Cup, 24 years after lifting the trophy, but this performance shows there is still a lot of work to be done with Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Kaka were all part of Brazil’s World Cup winning squad in 2002 and were among the crowd at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

Brazil have turned to the prolific Ancelotti in a bid to end the country’s title drought. He is the first foreign coach to lead Brazil in the biggest football tournament.

A fifth place finish in the South American qualifiers confirmed the extent of the challenges facing Ancelotti. However, the Italian insists Brazil have a squad capable of competing with anyone in the massive 48-team competition.

They were without Neymar at the start of the tournament, who scored all goals in Brazil while recovering from a calf injury, not playing for his country since 2023.

Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi urged his players not to fear Brazil, and his message appeared to be working as the 2022 finalists got off to a good start in one of the most famous openers.

After Neil El Aynaoui and Achraf Hakimi threatened Brazil’s goal, Saibari did well to collect a good pass from Brahim Diaz.

The PSV Eindhoven player raced past Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhaes, after catching his breath with Alisson Becker’s finish.

Brazil pulled one back 11 minutes later through Vinicius, who will play a key role if Brazil are to shine this summer.

The Real Madrid star received the ball from Bruno Guimaraes on the left side of the area before cutting onto his right foot and firing past Yassine Bounou into the far corner.

It breathed life late on for Brazil, and Lucas Paqueta saw his effort from the ball pushed away by Bounou just before the end of the half.

Bounou made a fine save from Igor Thiago as Brazil caught Morocco napping with a quick save after the break, while Raphinha and Danilo shot past Bounou as the Selecao sought a winner.

Morocco came close to grabbing it at the death when Alisson grabbed an effort from El Aynaoui and made a strong move to deny Chemsdine Talbi’s follow through.

Brazil will then face hosts Haiti while Morocco will face Scotland in their second game.