Morocco stunned Brazil 2-1 in a friendly international on Saturday as the north African side recorded a first ever win over the five-time world champions.

Midfielder Sofiane Boufal, a former Southampton star, but now playing with Al Rayyan in Qatar, gave Morocco the lead after 29 minutes, scoring with a powerful turn and drive from a pass by Bilal El Khannous.

But on-loan Sampdoria midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri struck the winner with a volley in the 79th minute as Morocco showed that becoming the first Arab or African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals last year was no fluke.

"I wouldn't say we lacked understanding, it's about putting into practice the ideas of a new coach," said Manchester United's Casemiro.

The injured Neymar was again missing with his number 10 shirt passing to Real Madrid youngster Rodrygo.

Brazil also had a new manager in the dugout with interim coach Ramon Menezes having replaced Tite who stepped down after the World Cup last-eight exit at the hands of Croatia.

Until Saturday, Morocco had suffered defeats in their only two other meetings with Brazil -- 2-0 in a 1997 friendly and 3-0 in the group stages of the 1998 World Cup in France.

Fuellkrug struck twice in the first half to give Hansi Flick's side a welcome victory in their first game since a catastrophic World Cup campaign in Qatar last year which ended with a group stage exit.

"It was all about getting a good start to the year today," said Fuellkrug.

"After what happened at the World Cup, it was important that we started well in 2023, so I'm happy we managed to do that," added Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who deputised in place of the injured Manuel Neuer.