The Brazil national football team, five-time world champions, will play a friendly match with its host Morocco, the fourth place of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, according to its federation announced on Wednesday.

The federation said in a statement, "The Brazilian national team begins its new cycle facing one of the semi-finalists of the last World Cup. The match will take place in Tangier on the coming March 25."

This will be the first match that Brazil plays on Moroccan soil, noting that it will be held at the Ibn Battuta Stadium, which has a capacity of 65,000 spectators, and was the venue for Flamengo's two matches in the last Club World Cup, which they finished in third place.

Morocco had a historic journey in the Qatar World Cup, becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the semifinals where they lost to France.

On the other hand, the Brazilian national team was eliminated in the quarterfinals on penalties against Croatia.

While the Brazilian federation has not appointed a replacement for Tite, who left the team after coaching it between 2016 and 2022, and denied rumors of contracting with Italian Carlo Ancelotti, it revealed that Ramon Menezes (50 years old), the under-20 national team coach, will be temporarily responsible for "Seleção" during the Moroccan trip.

Brazilian federation president Ednaldo Rodrigues said, "This is a good start for Brazilian football... We chose a strong opponent who reached the World Cup semifinals, Morocco."

Matches between the two teams

The Moroccan national team waited until 1997 to face Brazil for the first time, specifically in Belém in an international friendly match.

"The Atlas Lions" offered a good performance before falling by two clean goals in the last ten minutes scored by Denilson (80 and 88).

A year later, the two teams met in the group stage of the 1998 France World Cup.

Interestingly, the match was held in the city of Nantes, which was defended by Morocco's coach at that time, the French Henry Michel.

The Brazilian national team achieved an easy win with a three-nil scoreline, with goals scored by Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Bebeto.