Three years ago, the 15-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi was at the Élysée Palace in Paris, standing before the French President, Emmanuel Macron, after winning an elocution competition for football scholars. He then went on to captain France’s Under-21 side before deciding to switch his international allegiance to the land of his roots, Morocco.
On an even bigger stage than the presidential palace, and in front of a global audience of hundreds of millions, Bouaddi helped Morocco – who had reached the semi-finals of the last edition – absolutely boss the opening half-hour of their World Cup opener against five-time champions Brazil.
He was up against players such as Casemiro, a five-time UEFA Champions League winner, as well as Bruno Guimarães and Lucas Paquetá, both of whom have starred in the English Premier League. Alongside him was Neil El Aynaoui, son of former tennis professional Younes El Aynaoui. Further ahead was Azzedine Ounahi, one of the standout midfielders at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Brazil, a nation always associated with the highest class of midfielders, were given a thorough lesson in controlling the ball in the middle of the park as the young Moroccan trio dominated proceedings. Vinícius Júnior’s spectacular individual goal may have papered over the cracks, but it gives Brazil plenty of food for thought before their next group matches.
When he looks back on this game, Carlo Ancelotti, Brazil’s decorated coach, will realise just how comprehensively Bouaddi and his team-mates dictated terms in the most important area of the pitch.
Brazil have won World Cups with functional midfields in the past. There were hardly any stars in the midfield quartet of 1994, led by Dunga, while it was Gilberto Silva and Kléberson who anchored the midfield in 2002 when Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side lifted the trophy. On that occasion, however, Brazil also possessed an all-time great forward line featuring Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, as well as two genius full-backs in Roberto Carlos and Cafu.
They simply do not have that level of creativity on the flanks any more, which makes it all the more imperative that the midfield creates opportunities for an extremely dangerous forward line. On Saturday, for much of the match, both Vinícius and Raphinha were starved of service. The kind of dangerous through balls and crosses that would have allowed Igor Thiago to thrive, or brought Vinícius and Raphinha more into the game, were largely absent.
It would have felt like a spear through the heart of most Brazilian supporters that perhaps the pass of the game – and possibly the best one we will see all tournament – came from Brahim Díaz for Morocco’s goal. His delightful through ball bisected the defence and was perfectly weighted for Ismael Saibari to run onto before finishing with a lovely dink over Alisson Becker.
It is not yet time for Brazil to press the panic button, but this wake-up call – especially the opening third of the match against Morocco – has given Ancelotti a much better idea of where his team stands. Casemiro, and even Fabinho, simply do not have the legs to man the base of midfield on their own, and Brazil will need a much more stable platform if they are to dictate terms in their remaining matches.
Roger Ibañez had a shocking game at right-back before he was replaced, and it will be interesting to see who occupies the full-back positions in the next match. Even if they are not Roberto Carlos and Cafu, or Júnior and Dani Alves, Brazil need much more from those positions.
As for Morocco, they emphatically proved that what they achieved in Qatar was no fluke. Mohammed Ouahbi coached their Under-20s to the World Cup title in 2025, and they have arrived in North America with their eyes on the biggest prize of all. If they play as they did for the opening 30 minutes, they will certainly fancy their chances.
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