Eighteen-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi stars as Brazil and Morocco draw 1-1 at World Cup
The first heavyweight clash of the 2026 tournament ended in a stalemate, but Morocco's teenage midfielder produced a performance that had fans and pundits raving.
The opening clash
Brazil and Morocco, joint favourites in Group C, played out a 1-1 draw at a packed MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (80,663 spectators). Morocco struck first when Ismael Saibari lobbed Alisson after 21 minutes, finishing a pass from Brahim Diaz. Brazil levelled through Vinicius Junior eleven minutes later, the Real Madrid winger unleashing a fierce shot that gave Yassine Bounou no chance.
Bouaddi's breakthrough
The match belonged to 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi. The Lille midfielder, who only chose Morocco over France in May 2026, was handed his World Cup debut by coach Mohamed Ouahbi and responded with a display of rare composure. He touched the ball more than anyone else (89 times), completed 60 of 66 passes, won 11 of 14 duels, and made five interceptions and six recoveries.
We were sure and certain he would have a big match. There was no risk in playing him. For a first international match of this dimension, what he did was strong.
Bouaddi's numbers confirmed the eye test: a midfield performance that belonged to a veteran, not a player with only three friendly caps.
- Passes completed
- 60
- Duels won
- 11
- Interceptions
- 5
- Recoveries
- 6
- Touches
- 89
Coach reactions
Brazil's Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged his team's sluggish start. "I find we didn't start very well, that worries me a bit. We lost a lot of duels and balls, but we improved in the second half of a difficult match, because Morocco is a good team," he told FIFA. Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimaraes pointed to "a lot of passing errors, which made our start very difficult. We ended up suffering many counter-attacks."
Ouahbi, while proud of his side's audacity, kept the result in perspective. "We are satisfied with the draw but not euphoric. We wanted to win the match. When you cannot win, you have to accept a draw. So there it is, it's a point. We continue to move forward."
Elsewhere in the groups
Australia produced the day's surprise, beating Turkey 2-0 in Vancouver with goals from Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe. The Socceroos join the United States at the top of Group D. Switzerland were held 1-1 by Qatar in Santa Clara, Boualem Koukhi equalising at 93:59 to record the third-latest group-stage goal in World Cup history. Haiti, appearing for the first time in 52 years, were praised by coach Sébastien Migné:
Curaçao will make their tournament debut against Germany later on Sunday.We know that for Haiti nothing is ever easy, we are used to resilience.
