Brazil and Morocco both won their second group match. The Brazilians won 3-0 against Haiti, Morocco was too strong for Scotland 1-0. Because they drew 1-1 against each other in their first group match, Brazil and Morocco have four points in group C.
The Brazil of Italian national coach Carlo Ancelotti did not swing, but nevertheless had little trouble with Haiti, number 83 in the FIFA world rankings. All goals were scored in the first half: Matheus Cunha twice and Vinícius Júnior, who also scored against Morocco. The Real Madrid star player seems to be breaking away from Brazil, for which he had ‘only’ scored nine times in 49 games until the World Cup.
The big absentee was again Neymar, the 34-year-old star who played his last international match in 2023 but was still selected for this tournament. But, Ancelotti promised: “He is available for the match against Scotland.”
PSV player Ismael Saibari once again showed his good form in Morocco. Already in the second minute he gave Morocco the lead with a hard shot, after a deep run and a nice assumption. Saibari will play for Bayern Munich next season, although the German club has not yet confirmed his arrival.
The numbers one, two and eight of the twelve best numbers three in the groups advance, so there is a good chance that four points for Brazil and Morocco will be enough for the next round. Scotland is on three points in the group. If the Netherlands finishes first or second in group F, there is a good chance that it will play against Brazil or Morocco.
Hand over mouth
After a second defeat in a row, Turkey is eliminated. Although the Turks played against Paraguay for a long time against ten men and made more than thirty attempts on goal, they failed to score, just like against Australia. It became 1-0 for Paraguay.
The match was a first: for the first time, a player was sent off the field because he talked to the opponent with his hand over his mouth during a riot. Referee Iván Barton did not realize that Paraguay player Miguel Almirón did that just before half time, but after Turkey player Mert Müldür pointed it out to the assistant referee, the VAR intervened.
FIFA introduced the rule following a recent incident involving Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni. The Argentinian was accused by Real Madrid player Vinícius Junior of racist statements that he allegedly made from behind his shirt. Ultimately, Prestianni was banned for six matches by UEFA, although not for racism but for homophobic statements.
Playing along De Jong unsure
It is not yet entirely certain whether Frenkie de Jong will play against Sweden on Saturday evening. He was involved in the collision with Quinten Timber, who will certainly not make it to the match. “Frenkie has trouble below his waist,” said national coach Ronald Koeman in Houston. “He has trained largely today and we have to wait and see how he responds. He is a slight question mark.”
The Netherlands will play against the team that achieved one of the biggest results at this tournament so far. Sweden won the first match 5-1 against Tunisia. Although strikers Alexander Isak (Liverpool) and Viktor Gyökeres (Arsenal) are the big stars for Sweden, the lesser known Yasin Ayari scored twice.
“We are not afraid,” the Dutch national coach said about the Swedish striker pair. “But they are players that we take into account. They have shown that they are fast and can score goals. But it is about the entire Sweden team.”
In addition to the Netherlands, Germany will also play its second match on Saturday evening, against Ivory Coast. On the night from Saturday to Sunday, Curacao will play against Ecuador.
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2026 FIFA World Cup
Brazil and Morocco after four-point victories, red Paraguay for a hand over their mouth and De Jong ‘slight question mark’: this happened on day 9 of the World Cup