Brazil vs Morocco preview, team news, prediction and betting tips: Title hopefuls face tricky test in Group C opener

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

Brazil open their 2026 World Cup campaign with their toughest test of the group stage, facing Morocco in New York.

The Selecao have not made it beyond the semi-finals since being crowned champions in 2002, but they are widely tipped for a positive run at this year’s tournament under the expert leadership of Carlo Ancelotti.

Ancelotti has transformed Brazil over the last 12 months, adding a solid foundation and balance to a team that struggled during World Cup qualifying. 

They now look like serious contenders and have found a way to get all of their best attacking players on the pitch and looking dangerous on the counter.

Brazil head to the United States having lost only once in their last six matches, with that defeat coming at the hands of France.

More recent victories over Panama and Egypt brought eight goals between them and will have Brazil plenty confident.

Morocco, meanwhile, come into the tournament having been named 2025 AFCON champions in a courtroom despite losing the final to Senegal on penalties.

Since being awarded the latter title earlier this year, the Atlas Lions are unbeaten across five friendlies (W3, D2), including drawing 1-1 with Norway on Sunday.

Morocco’s magical run to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup will live long in the memory and they’re focused on proving it wasn’t a one-off. 

Achraf Hakimi is their captain and superstar and there is a bit more pressure on Morocco to go deep in this tournament. 

This game against Brazil gives us the perfect opportunity to see just how good they are and how much they’ve improved over the last four years.

Morocco enter Saturday’s showdown with Brazil having lost two of their previous three meetings

The two nations have only faced each other once at a World Cup (Brazil won 3-0 in 1998), but Morocco won their most recent meeting – a 2-1 win in a friendly in 2023. 

This game will also effectively decide who tops Group C, with both teams expected to stroll past Haiti and Scotland with ease.

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.

They are the only country to have competed in every edition of the global showpiece since the inaugural tournament in 1930.

While Morocco can’t match Brazil’s historic World Cup pedigree, with this being just their seventh appearance, the side that finished fourth in 2022 have proved that their run to the semi-finals in Qatar was no fluke.

They came through qualifying with a 100% win rate (8/8) before winning the Arab Cup and reaching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

*Odds sourced from SportyBet and are correct at the time of publishing. Always gamble responsibly.

Brazil are the most successful side in World Cup history, but they have not lifted the trophy since 2002 and Carlo Ancelotti’s side head to North America as fourth-favourites following a less-than-impressive qualifying campaign.

However, after racking up three straight wins since the start of April, A Selecao should begin the tournament with a win over an admittedly solid Moroccan side.

Brazil, though, have conceded in each of these three victories to make it five games without a shutout, and that should give a talented Morocco enough openings to get on the scoresheet in New Jersey.

Morocco come into the match as underdogs, but sitting just one place below their historic opponents in the world rankings, the Atlas Lions will certainly back themselves to get a result against Brazil. 

Having enjoyed a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign before also winning AFCON in 2025, Mohamed Ouahbi's side arrive in fearsome form, and despite Brazil winning both of their warm-up matches, we aren't expecting them to be at their blistering best.

They have scored 11 goals in their last three friendlies and should find the net against this out-of-form Brazilian defence, so expect both teams to score in a high-octane encounter.

The final pick of our Brazil vs Morocco bet builder is for over 3.5 goals to be scored in the match, with attacks coming out on top in a thrilling Group C curtain-raiser.

Brazil haven't failed to score in a game since September 2025, and have found the net at least twice in six of their eight matches in that time, so the threat of their electric frontline is clear to see. 

It's a similar story for Morocco too, who have drawn a blank in just one of their last 15 matches, and with the Atlas Lions having scored 28 goals in that time, we're anticipating a high-scoring affair in New York.

We're expecting these two to be battling it out for top spot in Group C, so with both sides giving everything to topple their closest challenger, we're tipping over 3.5 goals to be scored in what could be one of the games of the group stage.

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.

Right-back Wesley has also 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.

Ancelotti will also 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.

They have since been replaced in the squad by Al Fateh’s Marwane Saadane and Angers’s Amine Sbai.

Captain Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz are 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.

Alisson; Ederson, Marquinhos, Gabriel, Sandro; Casemiro, Guimarães; Henrique, Raphinha, Vinícius Jr; Cunha

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

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 come into this tournament with high expectations and dreams of the World Cup. 

While they open the tournament against their toughest group stage opposition, they will be fully intent on topping the group by the end of the night.

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.

Correct score prediction: Brazil 3-1 Morocco