Brazil and Morocco meet in International Friendly

Two top eight sides at the 2022 World Cup

Two teams that were among the top eight sides at the 2022 World Cup will meet in an international friendly on Saturday for their first action since Qatar, as Morocco welcome Brazil in Tangiers.

Their World Cup Performance

The Brazilian side were surprisingly knocked out at the quarterfinal stage by Croatia following a penalty shootout, while Morocco became the first African team to reach the semifinals, where the Atlas Lions fell to France in a tight contest.

Their Coaches

Brazil head coach Tite departed after six years in charge and the Selecao are currently being overseen on an interim basis by Under-20 national team coach Ramon Menezes, who led Brazil’s U-20s to the South American championship in February. His Moroccan counterpart will be Walid Regragui, who was the architect of the historic World Cup run.

Upcoming Matches

This will be the only match that Brazil will play during this March international window, with players released to their clubs after playing in Morocco. Meanwhile, the Atlas Lions will face another South American side in Peru on March 28 in Madrid.

Lineups

60 mins from kickoff: Lineups are out. And here’s confirmation of the Brazil lineup with Chelsea’s 18-year-old midfielder Andrey Santos (on loan with Vasco through June) getting the start in midfield, and Palmeiras forward Rony lining up with Real Madrid duo Vinicius and Rodrygo.

Meanwhile, Morocco are going with a 4-5-1 (or 4-2-3-1) that sees Genk’s creative midfielder Bilal El Kahnnouss get the start in the middle. Also, despite all the chatter of not being 100 percent, Achraf Hakimi starts at right-back for Morocco.

Seleção brasileira escalada para enfrentar Marrocos: Weverton, Emerson Royal, Éder Militão, Roger Ibañez e Alex Telles; Casemiro, Andrey e Lucas Paquetá; Rony, Rodrygo e Vinicius Jr.

The Stadium and the Crowds

100 mins from kickoff: The Moroccan players are just arriving at the stadium and this is how the crowd welcomed them with 90 minutes still left until kickoff.

Here’s the view via drone of the Moroccan team bus arriving at the stadium.

110 mins from kickoff: The stadium is beginning to fill up and we’re still close to two hours out from the match.

And here’s the scene just outside the stadium.

120 mins from kickoff: Here’s the Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangiers, which will host the match between the World Cup semifinalists against the five-time world champions. It goes without saying that the 65,000 tickets were sold out well in advance.

The Rosters

Regragui named a 30-man roster for the two matches in the March 2023 window, including 20 World Cup stars like Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, and Youssef En-Nesyri. Hakimi will start although his participation was up in the air with reports that he trained separately from the group in the days leading up to the match.

But goalkeeper Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti is out after picking up an injury in training, and Chadi Riad, Yassine Kechta, and Ibrahim Salah are not listed on the official matchday team sheet.

The Brazilian Lineup

The Brazil lineup features Weverton starting in place of Ederson after the Man City goalkeeper had stomach issues all week. Also, on-loan Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos gets the start as does Palmeiras 27-year-old attacker Rony.

Live Streaming Details

This friendly fixture has limited international broadcast outlets with Galvao Bueno’s ‘Canal GB’ YouTube channel covering the match for worldwide audiences.

Another Brazilian outlet Band Sports (Bandeirantes) is also carrying the match online with viewers required to register to create an account to access the match.

Viaplay are providing live access in eight European countries, including Denmark, Norway and Sweden, with Moroccan broadcaster Arryadia on duty for the hosts.

Those in the UK with a bet365 account can watch a live stream of the match through the bookmakers’ website or app.

Credit: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/soccer/news/morocco-vs-brazil-live-score-result-highlights-lineups/mkftwtycjgeo0d3uebxpxtjh

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