👀 Keep an eye on them: Brazil’s Copa rivals get reinforcements, here’s why

The final window of friendly matches before the final call-up for the 2026 World Cup brought important news for Brazil’s opponents in Group A.

Morocco and Haiti, who will face the Brazil team at the World Cup, took advantage of the dual nationality of players born in Europe to strengthen their squads.

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The highlight for Morocco is the arrival of defender Issa Diop from Fulham.

At 29, the French-born defender had played for the French youth teams but had never played for the French senior team, which allowed him to join the African nation due to his ancestry.

Besides Diop, among the Moroccans were other young players born abroad, such as Ismaël Baouf (Belgium), Redouane Halhal, Samir El Mourabet and Gessime Yassine (all French).

Unlike the Fulham defender, these athletes had already represented Morocco’s youth teams before.

Haiti has also sought reinforcements in European football, with striker Wilson Isidor, star of Sunderland (England), having accepted the invitation to represent the Caribbean team.

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Born in Rennes, France, Isidor took to social media to express his pride: “I am proud to be able to honor our people. Together we have the opportunity to make history.”