Morocco continued to be denied a victory in their opening matches at the World Cup, and against South American sides in the tournament, despite drawing 1-1 with Brazil on Saturday evening local time in the first round of Group 3 of the group stage at the World Cup being held across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Ismail Saibari broke the deadlock for Morocco in the 21st minute, before Vinicius Junior equalised for Brazil in the 32nd minute, earning the Atlas Lions their first-ever point against a South American side at a World Cup.
This was the third meeting between Morocco and a South American nation at the World Cup. It began at the 1970 edition in Mexico, when Morocco suffered a heavy 0-3 defeat to Peru in the group stage, exiting in the first round.
The second such encounter fared no better, as Morocco lost by the same scoreline to Brazil in the group stage of France 1998, also going out in the first round.
At the same time, the curse of the opening match continued to haunt Morocco, who have failed to win a single opening game across their 7 World Cup appearances, drawing 4 and losing 3.
Morocco began their World Cup journey at the 1970 edition in Mexico — their first-ever appearance — with a 1-2 defeat to West Germany, with Houmane Jarir scoring their only goal, before they were eliminated in the group stage.
In their second appearance, at the 1986 edition in Mexico, Morocco opened with a goalless draw against Poland before going on to reach the round of 16, becoming the first Arab and African side to advance to the knockout rounds of a World Cup.
At the 1994 edition in the United States, Morocco lost their opening match 0-1 to Belgium and went out in the first round without a point, losing all three of their group-stage games.
The Atlas Lions drew 2-2 with Norway at the start of their France 1998 campaign, with Mustafa Hadji and Abdeljalil Hadda