Morocco made history by becoming the first national team to reach an amazing milestone during the Brazil World Cup draw.
Morocco made history as the first national team to achieve an amazing milestone during their 1-1 draw with Brazil in Group C of the World Cup. The African champions played really well against Carlo Ancelotti’s team, with 18-year-old midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi standing out.
PSV forward Ismael Saibari put Morocco ahead in the first half by cleverly lobbing the ball over Brazil’s goalkeeper Alisson after a perfect pass from Brahim Diaz. Brazil equalized in the 32nd minute when Vinicius Junior fired a strong shot into the right corner of the goal.
It wasn’t the kind of game Brazil had hoped for, and the draw means they might need Morocco to slip up if they want to top the group, even if Brazil wins their next two matches.
Many teams in this World Cup have players who mostly play for clubs outside their home countries. Brazil’s only starting player from their own league was Flamengo’s Lucas Paqueta. Morocco, on the other hand, had no players from their domestic league in the starting lineup.
Players like Issa Diop, Chadi Riad, and Noussair Mazraoui play in the Premier League, while former Leicester midfielder Bilal El Khannouss plays in Germany’s Bundesliga for Stuttgart. Achraf Hakimi plays for Paris Saint-Germain, the defending Champions League winners. The only Moroccans playing at home were backup goalkeepers Munir Mohamedi and Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti.
In the second half, Morocco even used a full lineup of players born outside the country. Nine out of 11 were born in Spain, France, or Belgium, while Manchester United right-back Mazraoui was born in Leiderdorp, Netherlands. Goalkeeper Bono was born in Montreal, Canada, and coach Mohamed Ouahbi, managing his first competitive match against Brazil, was born in Brussels, Belgium.
Centre-back Issa Diop, born in Toulouse, France, played for France’s youth teams up to the U21 level before switching to represent Morocco earlier this year. This unique fact was noted when Strasbourg winger Samir El Mourabet, born in Strasbourg and a top young talent, came on for Morocco-born Azzedine Ounahi at 65 minutes. The all-foreign-born lineup lasted for 24 minutes until Morocco-born striker Soufiane Rahimi entered the game late on in New York.