Vinícius Jr. lifts Brazil to 1-1 draw with Morocco in World Cup opener
Vinícius Júnior’s 32nd-minute equalizer rescued Brazil in a 1-1 opener, while East Rutherford’s transit crowds and costly parking exposed the tournament’s strain.
Vinícius Júnior found the response Brazil needed, canceling Oussama Saibari’s opener in the 32nd minute as Brazil and Morocco finished 1-1 in their Group C opener at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The crowd of 80,663 watched the two highest-ranked teams in the first round, Brazil at No. 6 and Morocco at No. 7, split the points in a match that measured both a contender’s form and the World Cup’s early rhythm.
Brazil’s result extended a remarkable run in World Cup openers. The five-time champion has now gone 21 straight tournament openers without a loss, with 17 wins, since falling to Spain in 1934. That streak mattered here because Brazil is still chasing its first World Cup title since 2002, and because Morocco arrived with real pedigree of its own after a run to the semifinals in Qatar in 2022.
The matchup also carried rare history. Brazil and Morocco had met only once before at a World Cup, with Brazil winning 3-0 in 1998. Morocco had also beaten Brazil 2-1 in a 2023 friendly, a reminder that the gap between them has narrowed even if Brazil remains the sport’s most decorated World Cup nation.
Outside the stadium, the opener became a test of the New York area’s ability to absorb a major event. Transit crowds thickened, traffic jammed the approaches and parking prices climbed sharply, turning the first match in New Jersey into a logistical stress test with broader implications for the month ahead. MetLife Stadium is scheduled to host the 2026 final, and the opening-night experience suggested that the tournament’s public impression will be shaped as much by movement, access and cost as by the football itself.
Brazil now moves on to Haiti in Philadelphia and then Scotland in Miami Gardens, Florida, with a point and Vinícius Júnior’s equalizer as the first benchmark of its campaign. Morocco leaves with a result that confirmed its place among the tournament’s most dangerous teams, and the opener left both sides with work still to do.
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