Vinícius Jr. Sends Warning Before Brazil's World Cup Opener vs Morocco
The 2026 FIFAWorld Cup has gotten off to a fast start. On Thursday, Mexico kicked things off by beating South Africa 2-0 in front of a roaring home crowd at Estadio Azteca. Hours later, South Korea came back to beat Czechia 2-1 in Guadalajara. And early Friday, co-hosts Canada tied it up 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina at BMO Field in Toronto.
But Friday night was the real headliner. Team USA made a statement, thumping Paraguay 4-1 behind two first-half goals from Folarin Balogun. Paraguay’s midfielder Damián Bobadilla committed an own goal in the seventh minute, and the United States’ Giovanni Reyna closed things out with the fourth and final goal deep into injury time.
Now all eyes turn to Saturday’s slate of games, which features Switzerland vs. Qatar at Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California, and Haiti vs. Scotland at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. But the biggest match of the evening will be Brazil vs. Morocco at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with kick-off set for 6:00 p.m. ET.
And just hours before taking the field, Brazil superstar Vinícius Jr. sent a clear warning to the rest of the tournament.
"This is the most special and important moment of my career. I have the physical and technical level I've always dreamed of," he said. "I've not had any injuries this season. I prepared very well to reach this moment at the World Cup".
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Vinícius has battled multiple injury setbacks over his young career. He missed time with knee ligament damage in 2019, suffered multiple hamstring injuries during the 2023-24 season, and has also dealt with ankle and muscle issues.
But a fully fit and healthy Vinícius Jr. is scary. He scored a goal and two assists in his World Cup debut in Qatar in 2022, at just 21 years old, and has netted 27 goals and 13 assists over the last two seasons alone with Real Madrid.
Brazil will also be without Neymar for the Morocco game, and potentially next week’s group stage match against Haiti, so Seleção will be relying even more on Vinícius to get them off to a hot start.
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Brazil enters the tournament as one of the favorites, looking to extend its record of six World Cup titles and win its first since 2002.
How far they go will likely hinge on how well Vinícius plays, so if what he’s saying is true, Group C should have real reason to worry.
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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 12:38 PM.