Morocco at the FIFA World Cup: Team profile and history

Learn more about the African nation, their fixtures, coach, World Cup history, plus record appearance-makers and goal-scorers at the global tournament.

• Morocco are set to grace their third consecutive FIFA World Cup in 2026
• The Atlas Lions rewrote history by reaching the semi-finals at Qatar 2022
• Learn more about their World Cup pedigree and record holders

The eagerly anticipated FIFA World Cup™ on North American soil will mark Morocco’s seventh appearance at the global bonanza and an unprecedented third successive qualification for the nation. The Atlas Lions will be hunting down one objective at the expanded 48-team competition: to prove that the historic fourth-place finish secured at Qatar 2022 was no flash in the pan.

With Mohamed Ouahbi replacing history-maker Walid Regragui as coach in March 2026, his charges will be determined to keep inspiring their fans back home, as the nation looks forward to co-hosting the 2030 edition of the tournament.

Morocco head coach: Mohamed Ouahbi

Morocco opted to make a change in the dug-out less than 100 days before the World Cup as Mohamed Ouahbi was brought in to replace Walid Regragui as head coach.

The Belgium-born 49-year-old made a name for himself on the international stage last year by winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025™. In Chile, his Atlas Cubs brilliantly defeated Argentina 2-0 in the final, with his two proteges, Othmane Maamma and Yassir Zabiri, being awarded the adidas Golden Ball and Silver Ball respectively. Ouahbi also coached at the prestigious RSC Anderlecht training centre, where he won the Belgian U-17 Championship in 2018.

Regragui had enjoyed a dream start in the Moroccan hot seat after his appointment in August 2022. Just a few months into his reign, Morocco became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™. Buoyed by that success, the men in red and green then became the first Arab nation to get the better of the mighty Brazil, recording a 2-1 friendly win on 25 March of the following year.

While Regragui’s troops flattered to deceive at the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, where they crashed out in the Round of 16, they made light work of securing their ticket to the 2026 instalment of FIFA’s global extravaganza. Morocco were close to continental glory in the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, but suffered a dramatic 1-0 defeat by Senegal in the final on home soil.

Morocco's World Cup 2026 fixtures and group

• 13 June: Brazil v Morocco - New York New Jersey Stadium
• 19 June: Scotland v Morocco - Boston Stadium
• 24 June: Morocco v Haiti - Atlanta Stadium

Explore hospitality packages for Morocco’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ matches

Full World Cup 2026 match schedule

How Morocco qualified for World Cup 2026

The Atlas Lions roared their way to top spot in Group E of the CAF qualifiers and were the first African side to secure their place at the global showpiece. The team bagged their berth courtesy of a resounding 5-0 success over Niger on 5 September.

Morocco’s World Cup history

• Confederation: CAF
• Best World Cup: Semi-finals (2022)
• Last World Cup: Qatar 2022 (semi-finals)
• First World Cup: Mexico 1970 (group stage)
• World Cup appearances: Seven (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022, 2026)
• Current run of successive qualifications: Three
• World Cup hosts: 2030
• Overall World Cup record: P23 W5 L7 D11 F20 A27

Morocco’s first World Cup

Morocco cut their teeth in the global arena as the African continent’s sole representatives at Mexico 1970. Although they bowed out at the group stage, they acquitted themselves admirably in Group 4. In their curtain-raiser in Leon on 3 June, they came agonisingly close to snatching a draw against the redoubtable West Germans but ultimately fell to a 2-1 defeat. Following a heavy 3-0 loss to Peru, Blagoje Vidinic’s troops were able to head home with their heads held high after battling to a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria, thanks to Maouhoub Ghazouani’s 61st-minute equaliser.

Morocco’s last World Cup

Qatar 2022 will live long in the memory amongst the Moroccan faithful. Their team’s dazzling run propelled them where no African side had gone before: the final four at FIFA’s flagship tournament. Before they eventually succumbed 2-0 to Didier Deschamps’s France in the semi‑final, the North Africans had earned plenty of plaudits against some formidable opposition.

Drawn into Group F, Regragui’s side managed to hold 2018 runners-up Croatia to a scoreless stalemate before beating Belgium – who were bronze medallists at that edition in Russia – 2-0, and then rounding off the group stage with a 2-1 victory over Canada. They went on to topple two heavyweights in the knockout phase: first prevailing over Spain on penalties after neither side had managed to find a breakthrough after 120 minutes of absorbing action, and then edging out Portugal in a 1-0 quarter-final upset.

Morocco’s World Cup top scorer

The North Africans’ leading marksman at the global showpiece is Youssef En-Nesyri, whose three-goal haul includes the header that he netted after leaping a jaw-dropping 2.78m to sink Portugal 1-0 in the sides’ last-eight showdown at Qatar 2022. Earlier on at that same tournament, the frontman, who now plies his trade for Fenerbahce, doubled his side’s advantage in their 2-1 triumph over Canada. That strike meant that he became the first Moroccan to register at two editions of the World Cup after having made his mark four years earlier in Russia, where he was on target against Spain in a 2‑2 stalemate in the final round of group matches.

Morocco’s record World Cup appearance makers

Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech have each made ten World Cup appearances (three at Russia 2018 and seven at Qatar 2022) – a record not just for the Moroccan national team but across the Arab nations. The former, who marauds up and down Paris Saint-Germain’s right flank to devastating effect, has yet to find the net at a World Cup, while the latter got his side off to the best possible start in their group contest against Canada on Qatari soil by netting after only three minutes and 30 seconds. In so doing, the former Chelsea wideman etched his name into the history books after bagging the fastest-ever goal scored by an Arab team on the greatest stage of all.

Morocco’s memorable World Cup moments

As mentioned above, the pinnacle of Morocco’s World Cup story to date was undoubtedly their legendary run at Qatar 2022. However, the mere mention of Mexico 1970 still stirs a wave of nostalgia in any Moroccan fan who witnessed their team take their first steps onto the global stage. When the tournament returned to the North American country some 16 years later, the talismanic Aziz Bouderbala led his country to the Round of 16 in their second World Cup campaign. On that occasion, the Atlas Lions became the first African side to advance to the knockout phase after storming to first place in their group. Nevertheless, their hopes of clinching a last-eight berth were extinguished when West Germany’s Lothar Matthaus rifled home an 88th-minute free kick to hand the eventual runners-up a 1-0 triumph.

Morocco’s biggest World Cup win

The Moroccans achieved their most comprehensive World Cup triumph at France 1998. Henri Michel’s men got their Group A campaign up and running with a solid 2-2 draw against Norway in Montpellier, but this was followed by a 3-0 drubbing against the buccaneering Brazilians. However, the North Africans responded emphatically in their final group outing by swatting Scotland aside in a show stopping 3-0 success in Saint-Etienne. Salaheddine Bassir fired his team to victory with a brace, but the result was still not enough to carry Morocco through after Norway overcame the Seleção. They bowed out in a creditable third position, a solitary point adrift of the Scandinavians and just two shy of group winners Brazil.