World Cup 2022 team guides part 24: Morocco
This article is part of the Guardian’s World Cup 2022 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 November.
The plan
Having failed to qualify for four straight World Cups the Atlas Lions followed up their participation in Russia four years ago by qualifying for Qatar, finishing top of their group and then beating DR Congo 5-2 on aggregate in the playoff.
Morocco’s best World Cup came in 1986 when they surprised everyone by not only qualifying from a group consisting of England, Poland and Portugal but winning it. In the last 16 they pushed Germany all the way but lost to a Lothar Matthäus strike in the 88th minute.
Quick Guide
Morocco group fixtures
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Is progress from the group stage a possibility again? Well, Morocco qualified for Qatar despite several of the main players from 2018 no longer being part of the team, such as Medhi Benatia, Karim El Ahmadi, Mbark Boussoufa and Nordin Amrabat. However, Walid Regragui has a strong squad at his disposal with the likes of Romain Saïss, Achraf Hakimi and Yassine Bounou offering experience having played at a World Cup. “When you’re in the World Cup, it means you earned it,” says Saïss. “We’re going to Qatar with no pressure but our goal is clear: to qualify for the second round.” That task was made harder by the injury sustained by Amine Harit at the weekend. Missing the tournament is a blow for the player, coach and the team.
In August 2019, with the departure of Hervé Renard, the team started a long process of rejuvenation under the surveillance of Vahid Halilhodzic, one of the most charismatic yet unlucky coaches in the world. The Bosnian shook up the squad, managing to blend inexperienced players with the old guard and taking the team to the World Cup. However, a poor Africa Cup of Nations and a fallout with the star forward Hakim Ziyech cost him his job in August; it is the third time he has taken a country to a World Cup but left his post before the start of the tournament. Regragui replaced him with very little time to prepare.
The coach
A national team player between 2001 and 2009, Walid Regragui is the first Moroccan coach for the Atlas Lions since Badou Ezaki (2014-2016). He was born in Paris to Moroccan parents and started his coaching career as assistant to Rachid Taoussi (2012-2013) but it was clear that he needed to learn more about the players in Morocco’s domestic football before moving up the ladder. Was first noticed on a national level when he took FUS Rabat to their first league title in 2016. In 2020 he joined Al Duhail SC and won the Qatari league with them but his biggest triumph came when he won the African Champions League with Wydad AC, beating Al Ahly in Casablanca. “Performance, performance … There is your performance,” he shouted at the press conference after the game as he had been criticised for playing defensive football.
Star player
Achraf Hakimi is Morocco’s wonder boy. “Hakimi is a phenomenon. I’ve never seen anybody like him and I’m almost 70,” Halilhodzic said of the Paris Saint-Germain full-back. “He is playing excellent football and I am not sure his teammates are playing the same sport.” The comments caused controversy but with time Hakimi has proved to be a world-class player – and there aren’t that many of those from Morocco. Born in Madrid to Moroccan parents, he came through the Real Madrid system and then shone at Borussia Dortmund and Internazionale before his move to PSG. Has never thought twice about representing Morocco and the nation hopes he will perform at his top level in Qatar.
Full-back Achraf Hakimi is a rare world-class Moroccan footballer. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters
Unsung hero
Just like his older brother, Sofyan Amrabat is a raging bull on the pitch but unlike Nordin, the Fiorentina midfielder is less loud off it. “It’s nice to share the national team adventure with my brother,” Sofyan once said. “When we played in the 2018 World Cup he told me: ‘We’ll face everybody head-on.’ Since that moment, that phrase became my motto.” For Morocco he has the crucial role of anchoring the midfield and protect the defence, making him one of the most important players of the team. However, his position also means that he is not the most obvious choice when youngsters pick their idols.
Probable lineup
Qatar stance
“Qatar is putting together an unprecedented World Cup when it comes to organising it. Without any doubt, Qatar is honouring the whole Arab world,” says Fouzi Lekjaâ, the president of the Moroccan FA. It is a view shared by many Moroccans as the two countries have a good relationship. In 2017, when many countries in the Gulf region imposed a blockade on Qatar, Morocco helped the country by sending essentials. Qatar is also home to many Moroccan workers and apart the former international Abdeslam Ouaddou, who won a case against a Qatari club after he claimed they had failed to pay him for six months and then withheld his exit visa, few people have expressed complaints about the country.
National anthem
No one is quite sure about the exact origins of the Moroccan Cherifian Anthem but it was composed in the early 20th century as a homage to the Sultan Moulay Youssef, under the French protectorate. But the lyrics are the most interesting part as they came to prominence during a World Cup, according to legend. In 1969 King Hassan II demanded that lyrics were added to the music and a poet called Ali Skalli Lahssaini wrote them. Apparently the first time Moroccans heard it sung by many people at the same time was through a live broadcast of Morocco’s first game at Mexico 1970. The most memorable verse is the last one “Bi Shi-ar Allah, Al-Watan, Al-Malik (With the motto: God, homeland, king)”.
All-time cult hero
Badou Ezaki was the captain of the Atlas Lions that made history by becoming the first African team to qualify for the second round of a World Cup in 1986. In the group stage in Mexico the goalkeeper performed heroics against world-class forwards such as Zbigniew Boniek and Gary Lineker. He is widely regarded as one of the best African goalkeepers of all time and had a six-year spell with Mallorca in Spain. He retired in 1993 to become a manager, eventually coaching his country too. Honorary mentions should also go to Salaheddine Bassir, who scored twice against Scotland at the 1998 World Cup and Noureddine Naybet, who is considered by many as the best ever Moroccan player in terms of longevity and setting an example, and finished his playing career with two years at Tottenham. Along with Bassir, Naybet won the Spanish league with Deportivo La Coruña.
Mohamed Amine Elamri writes for Le Matin. Follow him here on Twitter.