Morocco won a friendly match against Brazil in Tangier on March 25 with goals from Asofiane Boufal and Abdelhamid Sabiri. This was Morocco’s first victory over the five-time world champions.
The World Cup semifinalists Morocco did staggeringly well by winning against soccer stalwart Brazil in their most memorable home game after an extraordinary Qatar 2022 campaign.
Morocco, backed by 65,000 fans in a sold-out Ibn Batouta stadium in Tangier, attempted to make an early run, but a steady Brazil held strong. The match almost turned violent, with the Brazilian players blaming the referee for a series of poor tackles by the home defenders.
Brazil were more forceful and controlled the game while Morocco were generally risky in the counter-attacks.
Palmeiras winger Rony, who was making his debut in his first call-up with the Brazilian team, missed a sitter from short proximity in the 13th minute.
In the 22nd minute, Brazil almost scored when goalkeeper Yassine Bounou made a comical mistake while trying to put the ball in play with his feet. Rony’s shot at an empty goal was stopped by a defender, but Bounou recovered in time to stop Vinicius Junior’s shot.
A minute later, Bono made a second mistake, giving Vinicius the ball and allowing him to score on an empty goal. However, the goal was disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) because of a contentious offside call in the buildup, and the Brazilian players yelled at the Tunisian official, Sadok Selmi.
In the very next play, Emerson Royal lost the ball close to his own box. Morocco didn’t waste the chance, and Sofiane Boufal scored from close range with help from Bilal El Khannous.
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Before the break, Morocco’s Hakim Ziyech missed two great chances, and goalkeeper Bounou made a Hollywood save to stop a Rodrygo shot from the edge of the area.
However, a mistake by Bounou allowed Brazil to equalize in the 67th minute. Bounou failed to hold onto a weak shot by Casemiro and let the ball slide under him into the net.
Abdelhamid Sabiri, a substitute, recovered a lost ball inside the Brazilian box and unleashed an unstoppable strike that bounced off the crossbar and into the net 12 minutes later.
After a World Cup run that brought tears of joy across Africa and the Arab world, Morocco, who became the first Arab team to reach the quarterfinals and the first African team to reach the semifinals, once more pumped their supporters full of pride.
