Morocco Stuns Brazil 2-1, Knocking Seleção from FIFA’s Top Ranking

With goals from Sofiane Boufal in the 29th minute and Abdelhamid Sabiri in the 79th minute, Morocco won this match against Brazil which, due to this defeat, loses its number 1 spot in the FIFA ranking, in favor of Argentina who won their match against Panama (2-0) this week in Buenos Aires. After his elimination in the quarter-finals of the World Cup by Croatia, Brazil thanked their coach Tite, who was replaced by the U-20 coach, Ramon Menezes, who as interim led the players to Tangier for this friendly match.

Brazil reduced the score in the middle of the second half, with a goal from captain Casemiro and a mistake by Yassine Bounou. At the start of the match, the two teams paid tribute to "king" Pelé, who died in December at the age of 82. With increased confidence after their historic performance in Qatar, the Atlas Lions put pressure on the Brazilian team, which seemed diminished without its injured players Marquinhos, Thiago Silva and Richarlison. But Vinicius Jr and Lucas Paquetá gave Achraf Hakimi, the Moroccan right-back of PSG, a hard time.

The Brazilian attack suffered from the absence of Neymar, also injured. Rodrygo seemed to wake up at the start of the second half, but that was not enough to come back. At the final whistle, the score was in favor of Morocco. The Atlas Lions will face Peru in a friendly match on Tuesday in Madrid. For their part, the Seleção will focus on finding a new coach. The Italian Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly being considered for the position, according to the local press.