Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes did not kick off his 2026 World Cup campaign the way he would have liked, and the Brazilian media have slammed his mistake against Morocco.
Brazil came from behind to rescue a point in their opening group stage match against Morocco, after Vinicius Jr. cancelled out Ismael Saibari’s opener.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s team looked far from their best against one of the tournament’s dark horses and will be relieved to have taken at least a point.
For Gabriel, it was a tough evening, as the Arsenal star made a sloppy mistake, allowing Morocco to open the scoring after 21 minutes.
Brazilian media slam Gabriel Magalhaes’ mistake vs Morocco
The Brazilian media were left very unimpressed by Gabriel Magalhaes’ defending for Morocco’s opening goal in Brazil’s World Cup opener.
Gabriel and Alisson Becker did not communicate and allowed Saibari to waltz in between them to open the scoring in New Jersey.
The 28-year-old recovered pretty well after that and was key in the build-up play for Brazil, completing an impressive 82 passes.
However, his display was not well received by the Brazilian media, who have all raised question marks over the Arsenal man.
- GE Globo gave him 5/10: “He wasn’t in the right position during Morocco’s goal and was slow to react. He made some good clearances both in the air and on the ground and was better in the second half, when Brazil improved collectively. Like his defensive partner, he had a good pass accuracy rate (82/85).”
- ESPN Brasil also rated him 5/10 and said: “As exposed as Marquinhos, but compensates with his physicality and aerial game. He also helps in the build-up play, although he found few passes that way.”
- Lance! were not impressed by his display either, writing: “Gabriel Magalhaes’ mistake forced Brazil to chase the result. It’s worth remembering that the defender only played in three of the 12 matches under Ancelotti’s command before the World Cup.”
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Gabriel has been one of the best defenders in Europe for Arsenal this season, but the 28-year-old still has much to prove on the international stage.
The Brazilian defender did not feature heavily during qualifying and will need to raise his game for the next two group stage matches.
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