Morocco beat Scotland and put a foot in the knockout stages
Morocco continued its strong performances in the World Cup finals, by defeating its Scottish counterpart with a clean goal, in the match hosted at the "Gillette" stadium, as part of the competitions of the second round of Group C of the North American World Cup.
The Atlas Lions needed less than 80 seconds to shake the net of the defender of the den of brave hearts, and this happened after a wonderful tactical sentence inspired by the historic goal in the Brazil net, and also with a pass from the international Ibrahim Diaz in the back of the defenders to the goalscorer Ismail Sibari, who in turn started this time from the right side, to fool the goalkeeper with a rocket shot to say the least, announcing the progress of his country with the first goals.
At the ninth minute, coach Mohamed Wehbe's men almost added the second goal, following a quick counter-attack that started with a brilliant knock from Nael El-Ainawi for the ball in the middle of the field, and the ball reached Sibari, who passed the ball to Ezzedine Ounahi in front of the goal, to send a cross in the goal throat to any player coming from behind, but the ball passed out of the field.
Morocco's superiority continued for most of the first half, and this was evident in the attempts made by Achraf Hakimi's friends in the rest of the half, the most prominent of which was the wonderful save by the goalkeeper to shoot captain Hakimi, followed by Bilal Khannous by wasting the opportunity to go head-to-head with the protector of the British opponent's den.
The situation did not change much in the second half of the match, as the sweeping Moroccan attack continued, hoping to kill the match with a second goal, while the Scottish team played on long balls that fell behind the defenders, but the vigilance of Issa Diop and the star of the defense, Shadi Riyad, deprived Scott McTominay and his companions from threatening the goalkeeper Bono with crosses and headers.
Had it not been for the absence of success from Ismail Sibari, he would have given his country the second goal, but the crossbar deprived him of his second bright shot, and substitute Ayoub Maimouni followed him with another chance that ended with a curling shot that passed just along the left post, and then ended the match with the fastest Arab goal in the history of the World Cup finals.
Brazil tops its World Cup group
Brazil achieved a well-deserved victory over Haiti 3-0 in the match that brought them together at dawn on Saturday, within the competitions of the second round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.
The Brazilian national team performed strongly throughout the two halves of the match, as it imposed its control of the game from the first minutes, possessing the ball and threatening the Haiti goal on more than one occasion, thanks to the quick attacking movements and individual skills of its players.
The Seleção succeeded in translating its advantage into goals, after he managed to find the net three times, through both Matheus Cunha (two goals) and Vinicius Jr., in the 23rd, 36th and 90+3rd minutes.
On the other hand, the Haitian national team tried to withstand Brazilian pressure and rely on counter-attacks, but it had great difficulty to penetrate the Brazilian defense or reach the opponent's goal effectively.
With this victory, the Brazilian national team boosted its chances of qualifying for the next round of the 2026 World Cup, after raising its score by 4 points at the top of Group C, equal with Morocco, but superiority on goal difference, while the Haiti national team is required to achieve a positive result in its next match in order to maintain its hopes of qualifying.
Vinicius wins Man of the Match award
Brazil star Vinicius Junior won the best player award for his country's match against Haiti at the 2026 World Cup.
Vinicius scored Brazil's third goal in first-half stoppage time, his second goal of the tournament, after also scoring against Morocco in the first round, and the Real Madrid star also set up his country's second goal for teammate Matheus Cunha.
Vinicius also won the best player award in Brazil's last match against Morocco, winning the award for the second time in a row in the Haiti match.
Ancelotti: Scotland upset Morocco. The status of Konya is not guaranteed
Carlo Ancelotti, the head coach of the Brazilian national team, refused to make a categorical pledge to continue to rely on Matheus Cunha as an outspoken striker, despite scoring a brace during the first half against Haiti.
Cunha came into the starting line-up as a substitute for Igor Thiago, after coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute during Brazil's first-round match, which ended in a positive draw against Morocco.
The Italian coach responded briefly at the press conference for the Haiti match, when asked if Kony would retain his position as an outright striker, saying: "Maybe it will."
Ancelotti added: "I think the position in which Konya was was excellent for creating problems for the opposing defence, he managed to pass through balls brilliantly, and his position was perfect to be effective in the front line."
The Samba boss continued: "This could be an option, we discussed it yesterday, I don't want a fixed and clear tactical identity, and maybe we will make a change in the next game."
The Scots go into Wednesday's clash in Miami in defence of their chances of staying in the tournament, but Ancelotti stressed that he is focused on the bigger vision and goals of his team.
Ancelotti said: "We are not thinking about eliminating Scotland, our thinking is on doing well and improving our form, and we will analyse the game."
"If we can top the group, it will be very important for the future, so we want to prepare well for that clash, Scotland have their characteristics and advantages, they can create problems, they have caused difficulties for Morocco today, that's why we have to focus on the meeting, be calm and calm, and keep working for development and improvement," Ancelotti concluded.