At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Brazil’s World Cup hopes were jolted after a first-half setback against Morocco. With the scoreline at 1-1 in a match that left Brazil “imbalanced” and short on “aggression,” Vinicius Junior stepped up with the kind of finishi
At MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Saturday, Brazil looked like a team still searching for its rhythm. The first half offered little comfort: Morocco outplayed them for the opening half hour, and Brazil found themselves one goal down.
What followed turned on a single answer Brazil wanted before it ever arrived—Vinicius Junior. After Morocco struck, Brazil’s hope didn’t read like a plan. It read like a belief. Vinicius carried the weight of it. and he did it in the details that coaches keep pointing to: the torque in how he moves his ankle. the way he generates power without winding up. the way he controls. doesn’t hesitate. and then places the ball to score. “He’s a phenomenon in how he uses it,” Brazil’s assistant coach, Francesco Mauri, said. “He doesn’t need to wind up the shot a lot in order to generate power. After controlling it, after carrying it, he doesn’t waste time in winding up the shot. He uses his ankle and manages to place it and score. He’s scored so many goals like that.”.
The goals Mauri spoke about, even with Brazil in mind, have often come in the colours of Real Madrid. They have been inch-perfect curlers. trophies with a familiar gravity: Champions League glory against Liverpool in Paris in 2022 and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley in 2024. That’s the question Brazilians kept asking—when would those skills come for the Selecao?.
In this opener against Morocco, it was clear how hard that wait had been. Vinicius’ recent Brazil numbers—nine goals in 49 games—sat awkwardly beside the Ballon d’Or campaign Madrid waged on his behalf only two years ago. Two years back. a delegation infamously abandoned the ceremony in Paris after learning that Manchester City’s midfielder Rodri was to be announced the winner. The contrast between that scale of belief and the tally for his country was impossible to ignore. especially with context that only sharpened the comparison: it was the same as his former Madrid team-mate. Casemiro.
Morocco didn’t make the match easier to watch. Brazil’s faith in the tournament—this belief in winning the World Cup for the first time since 2002—was shaken almost immediately. To use Achraf Hakimi’s phrase, Morocco played like “African Brazilians”. Ayyoub Bouaddi slinked through Brazil’s midfield with the nonchalance of “a cat in a souk. ” while the rest of the team purred in control. Brahim Diaz added his own calm; not with a terrible penalty in the final. but with decisive touches. including the through ball that set up Ismael Saibari’s opening goal.
Vinicius understood why Brazil looked stuck before they found their footing. “I believe we started off on a really bad note,” he said. “We conceded that first goal. After that it’s really hard to get going. For certain we have got to hold onto the ball and move better. The opponents had a really quick counter attack. There’s not a lot to say now. We have to improve.”.
Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment in Brazil was meant to change the outcome of that kind of uncertainty—to get the best out of Vinicius. Under Ancelotti in Madrid. the winger had “suddenly fulfilled his potential. ” and Vinicius still sounded convinced that the right environment could unlock him again. “Ancelotti always makes me feel confident,” he said. “Because he allows me the freedom and confidence to do what I’ve done with Madrid while playing for the national team. I’ll have the chance to change the history of our country alongside the other players.”.
But in New Jersey, the early evidence didn’t match the promise. For all the confidence Ancelotti offered after. Brazil’s first half had a flaw he named plainly: his team was “imbalanced” and lacking in “aggression.” Still. even in that imbalance. Vinicius gave them a chance—one that didn’t depend on Brazil suddenly controlling everything. only on Brazil becoming dangerous when it mattered.
In the minutes that followed, Brazil created openings that nearly slipped away. Igor Thiago, the Brentford striker, glanced a header wide. Raphinha’s shots were blocked or straight at the goalkeeper. Then Vinicius stepped in, took it upon himself to equalise, and did exactly what coaches insist he can do.
He found space released in behind, cut inside, and the ankle—the torque, the speed between control and contact—translated into the top corner. “That ankle, the torque, the top corner,” the moment reads like a blueprint. The Morocco goalkeeper had Bono no chance.
Neymar’s continued absence only tightened the story. Without his idol. it fell to Vinicius to give life to the idea many still carry of Brazil’s old aura—the kind they used to play with. now missing. The match didn’t restore that aura in one stroke. It did something sharper and more urgent: it suggested that if Brazil are going to go far. the tournament may run through Vinicius.
Ancelotti agreed with the verdict of the game without softening it. “He did well,” he said. “He was very dangerous and I think he has everything in his power to have a great World Cup.” Brazil’s next step is no longer about hope alone. It’s about whether they can keep turning danger into goals—whether the ankle that makes the torque credible can keep making the tournament feel winnable.
And if this opener proved anything. it’s that Brazil don’t have the luxury of waiting for harmony to appear on its own. “You don’t win a World Cup based on your first game,” Ancelotti said. But this is not his first World Cup in the United States. Thirty-two years ago. he served as Italy’s assistant manager when they reached the final in Pasadena and lost to Brazil—after being beaten in their opener by Ireland in New York. then going a man down against Norway and looking in disarray. One player dragged them to the Rose Bowl; Roberto Baggio.
All these years later, the lesson feels familiar in the way tournaments punish uncertainty. Brazil now need their spark not as a bonus, but as a steering wheel.
Vinicius Junior Brazil vs Morocco MetLife Stadium Carlo Ancelotti Francesco Mauri World Cup opener Achraf Hakimi Ayyoub Bouaddi Brahim Diaz Ismael Saibari Bono