History Moroccan national team
The Moroccan national team was established in 1955. They represent the Moroccan people during the international football matches including the World Cup and the Afrika Cup. The Moroccan national team qualified themselves for the first time for the World Cup in 1970, with this they were the second African country to go to the World Cup. The only African country that qualified before us is Egypt.
Morocco has participated a total of 4 times in the World Cup, with the one in 1986 as a highlight, the Moroccan team became the group winner and the first African country to qualify for the next round. With this they left countries like England and Portugal behind them. Unfortunately Morocco was defeated in the final 16 by former West-Germany, who later became the losing finalist.
Current selection
The definitive selection of the Moroccan national team is not officially published yet but on the basis of the latest World Cup qualifications we can guess about who is going to the World Cup.
Goalkeepers
- Munir El Kajoui (Numancia/Spain)
- Yassine Bounou (Gérone/Spain)
- Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (IRT/Morocco)
Defenders
- Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid/Spain)
- Badr Banoun (Raja Casablanca/Morocco)
- Fouad Chafik (Dijon/France)
- Ghanem Saiss (Wolverhampton/Great-Britain)
- Hamza Mendil (Lille/France)
- Jawad Yamiq (Raja/Morocco)
- Mehdi Benatia (Juventus/Italy)
- Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce/Turkey)
- Oualid El Hajjam (Amiens/France)
Midfielders
- Amine Harit (Schalke 04/Germany)
- Fayçal Fajr (Getafe/Spain)
- Hakim Ziyech (Ajax/Holland)
- Ismaïl Haddad (WAC/Morocco)
- Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord/Holland)
- Mbarek Boussoufa (Al Jazira/United Arab Emirates)
- Nordine Amrabat (Leganes/Spain)
- Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord/Holland)
- Soufiane Boufal (Southampton/Great-Brittain)
- Younès Belhanda (Galatasaray/Turkey)
Attackers
- Achraf Bencharki (Moghreb Fez/Morocco)
- Khalid Boutayeb (Malatyasport/Turkey)
- Mimoun Mahi (Groningen/Holland)
- Rachid Alioui (Nîmes/France)
Schedule Moroccan national team World Cup 2018
Morocco – Iran 15-6-18 17:00
Portugal – Morocco 20-6-18 14:00
Spain – Morocco 25-6-18 20:00
Where does the nickname “Atlas Lions” come from?
It refers to the atlas lion or the “barbary lion”, a native lion species which is named after the Atlas Mountains where the lion became extinct in 1920.
