While it was always a reach to project this tournament would feel like 104 Super Bowls, some matchups inevitably fit the blockbuster billing. Brazil and Morocco’s opener in Group C is this tournament’s first glamour fixture, pitting the five-time champions against the dark horse darlings of 2022, who arrive in great form.

Few know exactly what to expect from Carlo Ancelotti’s first World Cup on the touchline. A gilded figure on the club side, Ancelotti picked a squad teeming with stout center-backs and dynamic dribblers, but with some uncertainty in midfield, at full-back, and up top. Endrick finally taking a long-awaited leap would do wonders to assuage those latter concerns, and will most likely be necessary if Brazil are to snap their 24-year drought.

The history books say Morocco won Afcon 2026 on a technicality, for now anyway, but the fraught final overshadowed what was otherwise a credible tournament run. Brahim Diaz has a point to prove after flubbing his shot to win that tournament outright, and may be grateful that a chance for redemption is here already. After their run to the semi-final in 2022, Morocco will no longer catch opponents by surprise, and Neil El Aynaoui is a vital bridge between Diaz and Achraf Hakimi for right-sided, outside-inside-outside build-up at breakneck pace.

In the spirit of that 104 Super Bowl salespitch, today also serves as the 2026 World Cup debut for the site of the final in New Jersey. The venue hosted Super Bowl XLVIII and the 2025 Club World Cup final. It can’t match the architectural charms of Los Angeles Stadium, but was awarded the final anyway given its proximity to New York City. The stars will indeed be out for this dinner-hour kickoff. Up for grabs is the chance the seize control of the group and chart a more favorable path through the knockouts.