The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway, and it opened with a heavyweight clash. Brazil and Morocco, ranked sixth and seventh in the FIFA standings respectively, met Saturday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, for their Group C debut.
It’s the only first-round matchup between two top-10 FIFA-ranked teams in the entire tournament. And for crypto, the timing is hard to ignore: just four days before kickoff, Kraken was named the Official Crypto Exchange Supporter of the World Cup, marking the first partnership of its kind in the tournament’s 96-year history.
The match and the moment
Kickoff was set for 6:00 PM ET at MetLife Stadium, a venue that seats roughly 82,500 spectators and will also host the World Cup final on July 19. The expanded 48-team format means 104 total matches this tournament, a significant jump from the 64 games played in Qatar 2022.
Brazil, perpetual favorites with five World Cup titles, entered the tournament needing to prove that a generational refresh hasn’t dulled the edge. Morocco, fresh off a historic semifinal run in 2022, arrived as a team that no longer surprises anyone. Their fourth-place finish in Qatar was not a fluke, and their FIFA ranking confirms it.
