I’ll put up some videos of the World Cup games or highlights that interest me. Here are 20 minutes of highlights between Brazil and Morocco, which was tied 1-1 at the end.
Vinicius Jr spared Brazil the embarrassment of defeat in an opening World Cup match for the first since 1934 as his spectacular solo goal earned a draw for the five-time winners against Morocco at the New York New Jersey Stadium.
Brazil fell behind in the 21st minute when Ismael Saibari lifted the ball over the onrushing Alisson Becker from outside the area following a lapse in communication between the Liverpool goalkeeper and his defenders, Gabriel and Marquinhos.
It was the first time the African champions had scored against South American opposition at the World Cup, having failed to do so against Peru in 1970 and Brazil in 1998.
Morocco continued to dominate and, by the 30th minute, had registered 12 shots – the most Brazil have faced in a World Cup match since their encounter with Mexico in 2018.
But as Mohamed Ouahbi’s side failed to capitalise on their advantage, Brazil drew level 13 minutes before the break through Vinicius.
Making his 50th appearance for the Selecao, he collected a ball from Bruno Guimaraes inside the area, cut inside, and unleashed a fierce strike past Yassine Bounou.
Former West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta almost put Brazil ahead in first-half stoppage time, but his acrobatic effort was tipped behind for a corner.
With several members of Brazil’s triumphant 2002 squad watching on in New Jersey – including Ronaldo, Kaka and Roberto Carlos – Carlo Ancelotti’s side began to move through the gears after the break.
And although chances were at a premium for both sides, Raphinha came closest to finding an elusive second when he narrowly failed to connect with Guimaraes’ low-driven cross across the face of goal.
The draw means Morocco’s wait to win their opening game at a World Cup goes on, while Brazil’s remarkable 92‑year unbeaten first-match record remains intact.
Brazil’s tying goal begins at 6:41.
I watched most of it live. But the sound was turned off at the restaurant so I don’t know why Hakimi’s stepping on Vinicius’s foot was not called as a foul. Maybe the referee just didn’t see it. Shall see if the highlights tell me what happened.
I thought Morocco played very well. Netherlands versus Japan today.
Scotland is in the same group as Brazil and their draw helped us, but I doubt that we will move to the next round, although with the rule change about more teams going through there is a bit of a chance. We won against Haiti last night, but it wasn’t a great performance.
When we played Brazil in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup we ended up losing 2:1 because of an own goal 😪🤦♀️ Hopefully our upcoming match against them will be a bit better.
In 1978 Scotland was the first team in World Cup history to be kicked out of the tournament without losing a single match. We lost on goal difference 😪 It’s why I was hoping they would score more goals last night.
We don’t have a great team, but our fans seem to be very popular with locals wherever they go.
Haiti looked athletic and adventurous; hope they take the game to Brazil and Morocco. They know they won’t win the tournament so might as well go out swinging.
I was watching the match on Australian TV via VPN and the commentator said that the Haiti team can’t play at home and the team members are scattered around the world. That didn’t seem to be a big problem as they seemed to work very well together.
USA 4 Paraguay 1….best game I’ve ever seen the US play at this level.
I put this down to a world-class coach (Mauricio Pochettino) finding the best system for this group of players. And…the US still relies heavily on dual-nationals…key players like Balogun, Dest, Weah, and Robinson mostly grew up overseas. Even Christian Pulisic left the US at 15 and was developed as a pro in Germany. The suburban, overwhelming white and affluent “travel soccer” culture in the US is therefore underrepresented, and probably with good reason as “pay to play” is not the best way to develop talent.
And…the clear favorites remain France and Spain, with perhaps Argentina right behind. They are trailed by a whole pack of good but flawed teams, which include England, Portugal, Netherlands, and sadly now Brazil, who seem to have left their ginga and joga bonito somewhere back in the early 2000s…