Day Three of the 2026 World Cup saw the debut of five-time champions Brazil as the Seleção began their journey in Group C with a 1-1 draw against 2022 semi-finalists Morocco in New York/New Jersey.
The result against a legitimately good nation isn’t bad for a Brazil team that tends to struggle in World Cup openers, but the first half performance was genuinely worrying for anyone hoping to see the iconic yellow jersey in the latter stages of the tournament.
Brazil do have two superstars in Raphinha and Vini Jr., two of the world’s best defenders in Marquinhos and Gabriel, a legendary coach in Carlo Ancelotti, and several exciting young attacking talents. But the one area that was exposed as the Seleção’s biggest problem against Morocco is the same area that will surely doom them in North America: midfield.
Ancelotti’s starting central trio of Casemiro, Bruno Guimarães and Lucas Paquetá was severely lacking in quality and intensity as they were outplayed and outworked by the Moroccan midfield. Casemiro was the worst of the three, unceremoniously hooked at halftime after being booked and looking completely outmatched in the first 45 minutes.
Casemiro enjoyed a career revival in the second half of Manchester United’s season but doesn’t look suited for the World Cup stage, and his replacement Fabinho was so much better in the second half — despite being far from brilliant — that Casemiro’s time as a starter may have already come to an end.
Guimarães has always struggled to replicate his very high level of performances at Newcastle while wearing a Brazil shirt, and Paquetá looked lost and failed to complete the easiest of passes against Morocco. Fabinho is capable but no longer the same defensive midfield monster from his Liverpool days, and Danilo Santos has been dominating domestically but still doesn’t have Ancelotti’s complete trust.
There is enough star power at the back and up front that Brazil can advance past the group stage and maybe the first couple of knockout rounds, but 90 minutes against Morocco is all it takes to realize that Brazil’s midfield is not good enough to compete with the very best.
The (Im)precision of the Swiss allowed Qatar to create World Cup magic
The story of the first game of the day between Switzerland and Qatar was the Swiss team’s inability to turn their remarkable first half dominance into an easy win, and a combination of bad finishing and a touch of arrogance allowed Qatar to not only stay in the game but pull off the first major upset of the tournament as captain Boualem Khoukhi scored a 94th minute equalizer to earn Qatar’s first-ever point at the World Cup.
Switzerland’s superior midfield and wing play was evident in the first 45 minutes and the talented front three of Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye and Rubén Vargas had more than enough chances to put the game away, pick up all three points and build a nice cushion in goal difference.
What we saw instead was the magic of the World Cup as a giant underdog made history and showed us why even the smallest of nations in a 48-country tournament can still compete.
Haiti, The People’s Champion
The second-lowest ranked team in the World Cup made their people proud as Haiti defied all expectations and gave Scotland all they could handle in the second Group C game of the day.
The atmosphere in the stadium in Boston was extraordinary as both sets of supporters showed up in big numbers and made incredible noise all night, and John McGinn scored the winner as Scotland made a triumphant return to the World Cup stage for the first time in 28 years.
But the story of the game were the lovable losers: Haiti gave the Scots a proper test, using the size of their forwards and the incredible energy of their midfield to play with pace and intensity for the whole 90 minutes, and big man Frantzdy Pierrot had a huge chance to equalize later on but missed his header in agonizing fashion.
Haiti are unlikely to take points off Brazil and Morocco in their final two games, but they’ve already shown the necessary energy and passion to compete with the two big favorites in the group.
Australia proved that parking the bus can be beautiful
The fourth and final game of Day 3 (or the first game of Day 4, depending on where you are) featured a defensive masterpiece from Australia to cause a giant upset against Turkey in Group D. The Socceroos had a very clear plan to line up in a 5-4-1 low block, absorb as much pressure as possible, and try to create havoc on the counter.
And an amazing back-and-forth battle ensued, with Turkey dominating possession but having many of their shots blocked by amazing last-ditch challenge from the Australia defense while Patrick Beach had the game of his life in goal and saved literally everything in his vicinity.
But Australia also knew how to hurt Turkey on the counter, and that’s how they scored the winning goals thanks to beautiful strikes by Nestory Irankunda and Connor Metcalfe. It was a wonderful display of tactical structure combined with remarkable dedication to the task, and Australia proved that a brilliant defensive performance can be just as exhilarating to watch as an offensive show.