All right then, when it comes to the clever money there won't be too much riding on either of these two sides still being involved when the wheat comes to be sorted from the chaff. But set reputations aside and pick one from four of yesterday's teams and it's difficult to imagine coming up with the defending champions.

While there were some hints from the Brazilians of what we can expect from them over the next five weeks, on day one it was the Moroccans who stole the show. They played the opposition off the park for long stretches and scored two goals to be proud of. The fact that they couldn't nick all three points as well is as clear an indication as you could ask for of why it is the people of South America rather than those in North Africa are likely to be still gnawing on their fingernails come the second week in July.

The Norwegians contributed in no small way to a fine night's entertainment and, as Egil Olsen said afterwards, might even have bagged a winner in the closing stages. But with a team made up of players who battle, with varying degrees of success, to hold down places in the English Premiership, they had attempted to blow their opponents away with the blend of pace and prowess which our neighbours so staunchly believe only their game possesses.

Early on their chances of pulling it all off appeared to hang in the balance, but for the bulk of the game Norway were manifestly second best, a fact the scoreline would have reflected had it not been for Youssef Chippo's terrible misjudgment under his own posts and, on the hour, Driss Benzekri's dismal handling of a straightforward Stig Bjornebye free kick.

These, said manager Henri Michel afterwards, were why "we are disappointed with the way it went for us".

He added: "The fact that we make these mistakes, that is out weak point and we will have to work on it before the next game."

Quelle surpise as they say around these parts. More puzzling was his assertion that his side must open themselves up more to the joys of the long ball. The Norwegians may not wish to base their game on this tactic anymore, but they've yet to rid it from their game.

In this game, at least, the Moroccans weakest spells coincided with the occasions on which they attempted to trade ariel blows with the masters, even if it did prevent the Scandinavians from pursuing their own tactical evolution. More impressive by far were the spells when Moustafa El Hadji roamed behind the front two in search of an opportunity to torment Olsen's defence. None of the four coped too well with the attention, although it was still something of a shock when Tahar El Khalej ripped them apart with a throughball in the 38th minute. El Hadji covered nearly 40 metres to meet the pass, before slipping inside Dan Eggen and driving past the goalkeeper.

Eggen's contribution to the scoreline was only just beginning. Nobody could have legislated for the Norwegian equaliser, which came in injury time before the break. Chippo turned a nothing ball into a goal by mistaking the top left corner of his net for safety.

However, Eggen had had more than one warning about Abdeljilil Hadda's pace before the Tunisian-based striker made him pay, El Khalej this time chipping perfectly to set his team-mate in on goal.

The guilt was still written all over Eggen's face some 50 seconds later when he equalised, his speed to capitalise on some embarrassing handling at least freeing him from the burden that would have weighed heavy had the Moroccans held on more ruthlessly to their lead.

Having seen his side win a point, Olsen said afterwards that he was happy with the draw. "We met with a very strong Morocco side and we were impressed by their performance, so even though we were much less tired than them in the last 10 or 15 minutes, we must be happy that we have played a draw with them."

The upshot is, however, that Olsen knows now that his team must now beat the Scots and get a result against the Brazilians if they are to be sure of making it through Group A. In the aftermath of last night's game, it may not have been put to him, but it's a question he'll have to give quite a deal of thought to between now and next Tuesday's outing against Craig Brown's team in Bordeaux.