ATLANTA: Morocco will be chasing not only victory but also goals against already-eliminated Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday, eager to finish top of their World Cup group ahead of Brazil.

It would be a statement success for the North Africans, who have four points from their opening two Group ‘C’ games and made an immediate

impression when they had Brazil on the back foot in their drawn first match at the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

Morocco, who then beat Scotland in Boston on Friday, have picked up where they left off from the last World Cup in Qatar, where they became the first African and Arab country to reach the semi-finals.

Brazil will be playing Scotland at the same time in Miami, and if both the five-time world champions and Morocco win their last group games, then top place in Group ‘C’ will be decided on goal difference.

Neymar could make his first appearance at this year’s World Cup in the match against Scotland as the Brazilian on Monday took part in his first tactical and team training under coach Carlo Ancelotti.

Team-mate Gabriel Martinelli said Neymar looked ready.

“He’s performing at a very high level and you could see the intensity in today’s training session.

You could see how keen he is to be with us, and his quality is unquestionable,” Martinelli told a press conference on Monday.

“Whether he’ll play or not is a question for the manager, but I think he’s in great shape.”

A 3-0 win for the Brazilians against Haiti in Philadelphia on Friday gives them a better goal difference than Morocco, whose coach Mohamed Ouahbi said the Caribbean team would pose a difficult challenge despite their early exit.

But if they want to usurp Brazil and take top place, Morocco will have to be on the all-out attack.

The Group ‘C’ winner takes on the runners-up in

Group ‘F’, and the second-place finisher in Group ‘C’ is up against the top side in Group ‘F’, where the Netherlands, Japan, and Sweden are all in the running.

Haiti were the first team eliminated from the tournament after losing to Scotland and then Brazil but promised there would be no drop in intensity from their team.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2026