Morocco’s Coach Reflects on Draw with Brazil: ‘We Didn’t Come to Defend’

Mohamed Wahbi, the head coach of the Moroccan national team, discussed his team’s performance following their 1-1 draw against Brazil in the 2026 World Cup.

The match took place at MetLife Stadium in the United States as part of the opening round of the tournament. Morocco took an early lead in the 20th minute when Ismail Sabiri capitalized on a precise pass from Brahim Diaz, breaking through Brazil’s defense to score with a well-placed shot over goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Brazil equalized in the 32nd minute when Vinicius Junior struck a powerful shot from inside the penalty area after receiving a pass from Bruno Guimarães, finding the net after Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was unable to make the save.

In his post-match remarks, Wahbi stated, “We played a great match and were close to winning. I assure you that we entered this game with the intention of winning and controlled most periods of play against a tough opponent. However, luck was not on our side in securing all three points. Nevertheless, we are satisfied with the draw, and we still have two matches ahead where we will aim for victory.”.

Wahbi added, “We experienced moments of strength during the game and occasionally fell back defensively. I believe victory slipped away from us; we were close to achieving it, but ultimately we secured a positive result with this draw.”.

On whether his team approached Brazil defensively, he emphasized: “An exceptional half against Brazil? We did not come here just to defend. This scenario is what we planned for and trained meticulously on; we successfully implemented it earlier in our match against Norway. We entered this game intending to impose our style and play with our usual character without fear.”.

Looking ahead to their next match against Scotland, Wahbi remarked: “This will be a different game against a team that is not easy to face; they play direct football and rely heavily on penetrating passes. We will prepare well to achieve a winning result.”.