Video: How did Wahbi Samba’s tactical planning fall into the “Atlas Lions” trap? | sports

“If you are not prepared to be afraid, you may see a lion and think it is a cat!” These were the statements of the Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti, the Brazilian coach, before facing the Moroccan national team in the 2026 World Cup. In fact, the Brazilian players did not have the same mentality at the beginning of their match against the Atlas Lions, even if they spoke to the contrary before the match.

The Brazilians started the match pressing for a few minutes, before it became clear that they were not ready to confront the Moroccan force as it was, and during the minutes of the first half, especially in the first half hour, everything was distinctly Moroccan.

The tactical choices made by coach Mohamed Wehbe gave Morocco an overwhelming advantage for most of its periods, and Brazil appeared to be wearing red and green, or as Ashraf Hakimi, captain of the Lions, said before the match: “They call us the Brazil of Africa.”

4-2-3-1..a similar drawing

With the same tactical drawing, the two teams started the match, but with more impulsive choices by the Moroccans, who were ready to rely on a different idea that Wehbe seemed very convinced of.

The exclusion of Youssef En-Nesyri from the Atlas Lions’ rosters participating in the World Cup was something that raised a lot of ink, but taking into account what happened today with the reliance on Ismail Saibari in this position, it seems clear what Wehbe is thinking.

Saibari, who does not play much as a striker, and whose stardom emerged from the corridors of the stadium in Eindhoven, was clearly able to give Morocco, through his tactical employment, what Wehbe wanted, in short: the ball.

The presence of Sibari in the depths, with Bilal Khanous, Azzedine Ounahi and Brahim Diaz underneath him, with two midfielders who are good at playing under pressure, namely Nael El Aynaoui and Ayoub Bouaddi, all of this gave Morocco the ability to absorb Brazilian pressure, keep the ball between the feet, and most importantly, the ability to embody the threat.

Also, carrying the ball between your feet against an opponent the size of Brazil makes you reduce his danger and neutralize the technical skills of his players to the maximum extent, especially if the Moroccan national team has the ability to cause pain using distinctive elements, which is what actually happened when Diaz passed on a golden platter to Saibari, who finished it with amazing skill past Alisson Becker.

On the other hand, Ancelotti had started his match with the same pattern that he had loved since taking over as coach of Brazil, 4-2-3-1, in which he relied entirely on the exceptional skills of the two stalwarts, Vinicius Junior and Rafinha, and when he seemed to be completely missing the field, and Morocco took the lead in the score, and his full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Nassir Mazraoui, took over the danger of the Brazilian duo, a bright shot came from Vinicius Junior to give him the kiss of life.

He penetrated from the corridor, taking advantage of poor defensive positioning in this shot, and then an unstoppable shot, which produced the first goal and gave Ancelotti the opportunity to catch his breath and save what was left of his face after a very difficult half-hour in which Morocco’s control was denied throughout.

The percentage of possession of the ball by the two teams was very close at the end of the first half, 54% for Brazil compared to 46% for Morocco, and the majority of Brazilian possession was in the last quarter of an hour of the half after scoring the first goal, while the ball was in the first third of the field for Brazil at a rate of 30%, which suggests Moroccan efficiency when carrying the ball, which is evident in the number of shots during the first half, 12 compared to 6 for the Brazilians.

No risk

After the Brazilian’s equalizer, the match went on in a completely balanced way and both Ancelotti and Wehbe seemed unwilling to take risks in order to change the result, but if a technical highlight came from one of the players and resulted in a goal, then this might be the most rewarding gain.

This satisfaction was reflected in the form of substitutions, which were all place by place, but without a clear change in the tactical drawing of the two teams, with the opportunity given in each substitution for physical readiness, and therefore the most physically prepared elements remained in the two teams, and the most prominent of them were Ayoub Bouadi from Morocco and Rafinha from Brazil.

Also, Ancelotti’s attempt to correct the tactical choice he made by not fielding an explicit right-back, and relying on Roger Ibañez in this position, proved that he deprived Brazil of many attacking options in a plan that mainly relied on making room for the steadfast Vinicius Junior and Rafinha to make the difference, so he chose to start the second half by relying on Danilo to try to attack Mazraoui from the front, because the Manchester United full-back provided an exceptional first half in defense and attack.

In the last breath, there was clear reliance on individual efforts to resolve the match, whether that came from Vinicius’ penetration and giving him a ball on a plate for Rafinha, who shot it in the middle of Yassine Bounou’s goal, or in Nael El Aynaoui’s last shot, which was followed by Ayoub Mimouni, and had it not been for Alisson Becker’s brilliance, Morocco would have obtained the three deserved points after that.

An amazing performance from the Moroccan national team, and when its coach, Mohamed Wehbe, said before the tournament that he would “continue the path of Walid Regragui,” it seemed that he was not exaggerating. Morocco did everything necessary against Brazil to prove that it has truly become one of the top players in the game. The only match in the group stage of the 2026 World Cup between two teams among the top ten rankings fulfilled all its promises and ended as it began, but with a lot of enjoyment and added football value.