Brazil took on Morocco on Saturday night to open up Group C in the World Cup, and there was a heavy Manchester United presence.
Widely tipped to be one of the best games of the group stage, Brazil and Morocco lived up to expectations with two strong teams very evenly matched at the MetLife Stadium in a 1-1 draw.
Casemiro and Noussair Mazraoui started for their nations, flying the flag for Manchester United, as Matheus Cunha then came off the bench in the second half, while Ederson was an unused substitute.
It was a cracking game at times, and here is how each of the United players fared.
Who is YOUR ‘one to watch’ pick for Man Utd next season?👀
Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro both say Patrick Dorgu, but who is yours?
Casemiro struggles to run midfield for Brazil
Casemiro’s World Cup began in Saturday night’s blockbuster tie, but his spell as a starter might have ended on the same night, as he was really poor.
Casemiro was exposed and ran through in the opening 45 minutes, as he received a booking for his troubles and was subsequently hooked at the break by Carlo Ancelotti.
Brazil were a lot more solid-looking with Fabinho instead of Casemiro, and this performance might have seeded doubts in the mind of Ancelotti over whether or not to change things up in the second game.
It also highlighted why United and Casemiro were wise to have parted ways.
Which Manchester United player will have the most successful World Cup 2026?
Who are you most excited to watch?
Noussair Mazraoui shines at left-back for Morocco
The 2025/26 season hadn’t been brilliant from Mazraoui, but with a shaved head, he was a different animal for Morocco.
Mazraoui was brilliant with his driving runs through the Brazilian midfield, inverting to take advantage of the lack of pace in the middle of the park.
He showed incredible control of the ball, dribbling, and a sharpness we haven’t seen at United for over a year.
Mazraoui completely locked down Lucas Paqueta, and he has shocked quite a few people with a display that almost sees him rolling back the years.
Matheus Cunha has an impressive Brazil cameo
Cunha was off the bench to replace Igor Thiago in the second half, and he was a huge improvement on the Brentford number nine.
Alan Shearer tipped Cunha to be a standout, and with this cameo, he surely starts the next game against Haiti.
Cunha dropped deep and allowed Vinicius Junior and Raphinha to run beyond him, with one instance seeing United’s number 10 play a brilliant ball in behind for the pair of wingers to almost combine to score.
Strong cameo, but Cunha will want to do more in the coming games with that historic number nine on his back.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
