Overview
- The Group C opener is set for Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford with Slovenia's Slavko Vincic appointed as referee and kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
- Reports project Carlo Ancelotti to use a 4-4-2 with a midfield trio of Bruno Guimarães, Casemiro and Lucas Paquetá to prioritize possession over an extra forward.
- Vinicius Junior is expected to start as Brazil's primary attacking outlet and will earn his 50th senior cap in the match.
- Neymar is in Brazil's tournament squad but will not play the opener because of a muscle injury, and Morocco have replaced Abde Ezzalzouli and Nayef Aguerd with Amine Sbai and Marwane Saadane due to injuries.
- Betting markets and analysts have focused on Vinicius with FanDuel listing him at +470 to score anytime and SportsLine publishing player-prop picks that center on his goal and assist chances.