Vinícius Júnior is not wearing the famous Brazil No 10 at this World Cup. For now, the hallowed shirt of Pelé, Zico, Rivellino, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and all the rest belongs to Neymar.

Or at least it belongs to a man faintly resembling Neymar. Now 34, he showed just enough at Santos to make Carlo Ancelotti’s squad after two lucrative but mostly wasted years in Saudi Arabia. Ancelotti could have chosen João Pedro or Richarlison or Savinho or Gabriel Jesus or Igor Jesus or, hell, even Antony, but he took Neymar. Who is injured again – a calf problem this time – and whose fitness will loom over the Brazilian campaign, just as it has at some point during every one of his four World Cups.

Neymar, who will loom over Vinícius Júnior, too.

If Vinícius is now Brazil’s undisputed star, the 25-year-old has also yet to really make the team his own. He has turned in frustrating and often fruitless performances at major international tournaments, while scoring a mere nine goals in 49 appearances entering this, his second World Cup.

He has yet to wrest top billing from Neymar, whose jersey was worn by huge swaths of the Brazilian fans in their draw with Morocco on Saturday.

Neymar, visibly hobbled, ambled by the adoring Brazilian crowds before the match, confirming that he is still here, that he still matters. He sported a backwards hat, like the teenager who once dazzled us before injuries sapped his powers over the last decade. He got what he wanted: loud cheers, even though he wasn’t even in the matchday squad. Neymar, and the No 10, were there but they also were not. He attempted a bit of coaching from the sidelines during the game, trying to exert influence over a team he can help in no other way.

So if ever there was a time for Vinícius to announce, or indeed confirm, that he was taking charge, this was it: the only group-stage match of this World Cup featuring two of Fifa’s top-10 teams.

He did just that, under the watchful eye of Brazil legends Ronaldo, Kaká and Roberto Carlos. And he did it for his coach, Ancelotti, who oversaw Vinícius’s maturation at Real Madrid, who coaxed him from prodigy to superstar.

Vinícius was man of the match – admittedly a tad generously, given the performance of Morocco’s marvelously efficient 18-year-old playmaker Ayyoub Bouaddi. And it was Vinícius’s 32nd-minute equalizer that roused Brazil from their early slumber.

Several times in the first half, Brazil’s players felt compelled to wave their arms upwards at their own fans, who far outnumbered their Moroccan counterparts, demanding more support. They may as well have asked the same of themselves, stunned as they seemed that the semi-finalists at the last World Cup – a stage the Brazilians have not reached on foreign soil in nearly a quarter-century – played right through them.

“The team was a bit anxious and at the beginning nerves were all over the place,” Ancelotti confessed after the match. “In the second half we did a lot better.”

Yet out wide for a side still finding itself, Vinícius was a relentless danger. In the 14th minute, he hurtled up the last strip of grass in direct sunlight, beat his club – and now international – rival Achraf Hakimi, and shuffled into the shadows, unleashing a cross that Igor Thiago couldn’t quite get his head on.

Later, Vinícius found a pocket of space in the Moroccan box, where Bruno Guimarães gave him a clever ball. He cut inside to improve an acute angle, turning Neil El Aynaoui inside out, and blasted his finish past Yassine Bounou. The goal canceled out Ismael Saibari’s delightful 21st-minute dink.

It was the last goal of the game, from a chance that carried no more than 0.1 expected goals.

“I believe I can improve a lot, I managed to score a goal, but I didn’t have 100% of my best technical part,” Vinícius said after the match.

From there, Brazil settled down and Morocco set up in a deep block. Most of whatever threat Brazil still posed emanated from Vinícius’s left flank. He danced his way into space but nobody had joined him in the attack to connect with his cross – something which may well become a theme in Ancelotti’s striker-less system. Then Vinícius loped into the space behind Hakimi after being sprung again, finding Raphinha, whose finish was feckless.

“When you’re up against Vinícius, it’s hard to defend,” Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi lamented.

He was hardly perfect. Vinícius gave the ball away a lot, tried a fair few things that didn’t come off. But on the night, he was there for his nation. When Brazil needed a spark, not to mention a goal, they got it from the Real Madrid star.

For now, that will suit the five-time champions just fine. And there was something fitting about a man called Viní doing the business in North Jersey.