Preview: Brazil vs Morocco - prediction, team news, lineups

Five-time world champions Brazil begin their Group C campaign at 2026 World Cup against African giants Morocco at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday.

While the Selecao are eager to make amends for their quarter-final elimination in Qatar four years ago, the Atlas Lions face a monumental challenge as they endeavour to replicate their surprise semi-final showing.

Match preview

History was made in May 2025 when the Brazilian Football Federation appointed Carlo Ancelotti as their first foreign coach, with the 67-year-old Italian now relishing a fresh challenge on the international stage after an illustrious, trophy-laden managerial career at club level spanning across three decades.

Brazil are the most successful nation in World Cup history, playing more games (114), winning more games (74) and crucially winning more titles (five) than anyone else, while they are the only country to have competed in every edition of the global showpiece since the inaugural tournament in 1930.

However, they have not lifted the prestigious golden trophy aloft since 2002; their current 24-year drought matches the exact length of their historic dry spell between 1970 and 1994, which was ultimately ended on American soil.

The Selecao were made to work for their place at this summer’s newly-expanded 48-team tournament, as they recorded eight wins, four draws and six defeats across 18 games to finish fifth and claim one of the six direct CONMEBOL qualification berths on offer.

Brazil suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Bolivia in their final World Cup qualifier, while they have also tasted defeat against Japan (3-2) and France (2-1) in friendlies since October. However, Ancelotti’s side have won each of their last three fixtures against Croatia, Panama and Egypt by an aggregate score of 11-4.

Ranked fifth in the world by FIFA, Brazil head into Saturday’s clash with Morocco having won seven of their eight World Cup encounters with African nations - the exception being a 1-0 group-stage loss to Cameroon at Qatar 2022 - while the best World Cup betting sites are pricing the Selecao as strong favourites to advance from Group C.

Four years after becoming the first African nation in World Cup history to reach the semi-finals, Morocco are gearing up for their seventh appearance on the grandest international stage of all and they are regarded by many as one of the tournament's premier dark horses to engineer another deep run.

Intriguingly, Morocco’s first three World Cup appearances occurred in Mexico (1970 and 1986) and the United States (1994) - two of this summer’s three co-hosts - where they suffered a debut group-stage exit, staged a memorable run to the last 16 in 1986, and endured a disappointing three-loss campaign on American soil.

The Atlas Lions have developed into a powerful footballing nation in recent years, recording 33 wins, 10 draws and just two defeats in 45 games since the start of 2023, and they are currently ranked seventh in the world above the likes of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Walid Regragui deserves huge credit for Morocco’s impressive rise. His team breezed through CAF qualifying for the World Cup (eight wins from eight games) before they were controversially crowned Africa Cup of Nations champions earlier this year after Senegal were stripped of their title following a chaotic final.

However, Regragui resigned less than 100 days before the World Cup and former Under-23s coach Mohamed Ouahbi has since taken the reins, steering the senior side to three wins and two draws across his five matches, most recently sharing the spoils with Norway (1-1) last weekend.

Seeking to progress from a World Cup group in back-to-back tournaments for the first time, Morocco enter Saturday’s showdown with Group C rivals Brazil having lost two of their previous three meetings, but they were triumphant in their most recent head-to-head, winning a friendly 2-1 in March 2023.

Brazil form (all competitions):

Morocco form (all competitions):

Team News

Brazil’s all-time top scorer Neymar is still recovering from a grade two calf injury and is not expected to be ready for Saturday’s game, while right-back Wesley has been ruled out of the World Cup with a muscle injury sustained in the friendly win over Egypt.

Manchester United-bound midfielder Ederson was a late call-up to the squad and he is believed to have been tested in the right-back role in training. Danilo and Roger Ibanez are two other right-sided defenders at Ancelotti’s disposal.

Premier League trio Alisson Becker, Gabriel Magalhaes and Bruno Guimaraes are all set to start along with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Barcelona’s Raphinha, while Ancelotti will weigh up whether to hand Matheus Cunha, Endrick or Igor Thiago a start as his central striker.

As for Morocco, centre-back Nayef Aguerd (groin) and winger Abde Ezzalzouli (knee) will both miss the World Cup due to injury and have since been replaced in the squad by Al Fateh’s Marwane Saadane and Angers’s Amine Sbai.

Ezzalzouli sustained his injury in the friendly draw with Norway, and Noussair Mazraoui was forced off in the same game with a shoulder problem. While the defender’s injury is not thought to be serious, a late call will be made on his availability.

Captain Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz are two Moroccan stars expected to start, the latter scored his 14th international goal in 26 games against Norway and could be joined in a fluid three-man attack alongside Bayern Munich-linked Ismael Saibari and Bilal El Khannouss.

Brazil possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Ederson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Sandro; Casemiro, Guimaraes; Henrique, Raphinha, Vinicius Jr; Cunha

Morocco possible starting lineup:

Bounou; Hakimi, Diop, Riad, Mazraoui; Amrabat, El Aynaoui, Ounahi; Diaz, Saibari, El Khannouss

We say: Brazil 3-1 Morocco

Morocco would send out a statement and significantly boost their hopes of topping Group C if they secured maximum points against Brazil in what promises to be an intriguing contest between two nations separated by just one place in the FIFA rankings.

However, Brazil will be regarded as the favourites, and with ‘Don Carlo’ now at the wheel, we expect a free-scoring Selecao side to punish an injury-hit Atlas Lions outfit with a fairly inexperienced backline.

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