From 1998 Nantes to 2026 New Jersey: When Morocco played like Brazil

Back in 1998, when a star-studded Brazil, featuring Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Cafu and Dunga, prepared for their World Cup group-stage game against Morocco in France, the question that troubled the Brazilian coaching staff was quite intriguing.

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Entering that tournament as the overwhelming favourites, few expected the Samba Kings — famous for their dazzling style of football — to face any problem against an Arab team from North Africa.

But the Brazilian technical staff, led by the legendary Mário Zagallo, knew the quality Morocco possessed — the ability to play crisp one-twos in the final third of the rival box.

Zagallo’s technical team understood very well that their group of superstars faced a team that played like Brazil.

After all, Morocco’s possession-based style had already earned them the nickname ‘the Brazil of Africa’.

And they proved just that in Nantes on June 16, 1998, playing a brand of football that captivated the world and even challenged the mighty Brazil.

Despite conceding an early goal, the Moroccans, with the wonderful Mustapha Hadji pulling the strings in the midfield, refused to back down, launching waves of attacks for an equaliser.

As a teenager in 1998, it was quite an exhilarating experience to watch an African underdog play such fearless football against Brazil.  

Eventually, Brazil’s class and wealth of experience proved decisive as the South Americans clinched a 3-0 win on the back of their ruthless counterattacks.

But the scoreboard hardly did justice to the Moroccan show, and especially, Hadji’s masterclass. The ponytailed midfielder with creative spark more than held his own against the galaxy of Brazilian superstars.

Now 28 years later, with Morocco having firmly established themselves as a formidable force in football on the back of their stirring run to the 2022 World Cup semifinals, Brazil always knew the challenge of taking on the Africans in New Jersey.

Having scraped through the South American qualifiers, Brazil’s only hope in North America is the tactical genius of Carlo Ancelotti.

The first foreigner to coach Brazil, Ancelotti’s biggest challenge is to rise to the challenge by building a team that can go all the way.

But on Saturday’s evidence, this Brazil team is a far cry from their iconic squads. If not for one moment of individual brilliance from Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr, Morocco would have beaten Brazil, adding them to their list of scalps following the memorable wins over Belgium, Spain and Portugal in Qatar 2022.

Brazil may yet go on to make a deep run in the 2026 edition of the World Cup, but Ancelotti has many puzzles in the midfield, which was comfortably outplayed by the Moroccans on Saturday night.

For long periods in the game, it felt as though the wrong team was wearing the famous yellow shirt.

It was not Ancelotti’s Brazil, but Mohamed Ouahbi’s Morocco that would have made the Brazilian footballing Gods proud.

While they adopted a counter-attacking approach under Walid Regragui in Qatar, Ouahbi’s Morocco is turning back the clock, playing sumptuous football and pressing hard when out of possession.

Ismael Saibari grabbed the headlines with his brilliant finish; Achraf Hakimi led from the front with a tireless display, launching those runs at Brazil from the wing and tracking back to defend.

But the star of the show was Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old playmaker who completely dominated the midfield with his range of passing.

Until March this year, Bouaddi represented the under-21 team of France, the country of his birth.

But his terrific performances for Lille in Ligue 1 convinced Ouahbi to pursue him and get him to play for Morocco, the country of his origin.

Ouahbi’s perseverance paid off last month when Fifa approved Bouaddi’s move from the French national team to Morocco.

Now less than a month later, Bouaddi tormented five-time champions Brazil on his World Cup debut, producing the finest individual performance of the tournament so far.

The fearless teenager’s midfield magic had echoes of Mustapha Hadji.

But Hadji was orchestrating attacks for Morocco when they were still trying to find their feet on the world stage.

Bouaddi has walked into a world-class squad. Ranked seventh in the world, Morocco have arrived in North America to prove that their Qatar semifinal run was no fluke.

With their next two games against Scotland and Haiti, Morocco would fancy their chances of topping Group C ahead of Brazil.

Saturday’s game may have finished 1-1, but it’s probably only the start of what could be another exciting World Cup run for Morocco.