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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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Mexico kicked off the 2026 FIFA World Cup in dramatic fashion on Thursday, pulling off a clean 2-0 win over South Africa in Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. South Korea later edged Czechia 2-1 in Guadalajara, and on Friday, Canada grinded out a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto. The first two days of the tournament have brought no shortage of drama, and we haven't even gotten to the heavyweights yet.
But that changes on Saturday with Brazil set to take on Morocco at MetLife Stadium in a Group C opener that everyone's had circled for weeks. Brazil enters the 2026 World Cup as one of the favorites, and Morocco enters as one of the dark horses.
Now, with less than 24 hours before kickoff, Brazil has delivered a major blow, revealing that Neymar Jr. won't be available for the game.
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Neymar will be sitting out the Morocco match as he continues rehabbing a grade-two calf tear suffered just last month. Brazil's medical staff said recently that he was making "good progress" and that the target is a return to training and a possible debut next week against Haiti on June 19 in Philadelphia.
But for a 34-year-old nearing the end of his career, and one who's already battled a brutal ACL and meniscus tear in 2023, there's been some real concern lately that Neymar could miss all three of Brazil's group stage matches.
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Despite his age, and most recent injuries, Neymar is still the type of player who can change a game in minutes. So not having him against arguably Brazil's toughest matchup in the group stage is definitely concerning.
Brazil are still considered the favorites to win on Saturday, but many had Morocco penciled in as potential dark horses ready to go on a run. The Atlas Lions had just made the semifinals in Qatar in 2022 and won the Africa Cup of Nations last year, playing with the kind of pace, physicality and discipline teams need to contend for a World Cup.
Kick off is set for 6:00 p.m. ET, and Morocco just got a massive boost.
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