Morocco raises its expectations for the 2026 World Cup, just days before the draw
The Moroccan national football team dreams of repeating its performance at the 2022 World Cup as it waits to find out who its rivals will be
Improving on its performance at the 2022 World Cup, where it achieved a commendable fourth place after eliminating powerful teams such as Spain and Portugal, seems a difficult task for the Moroccan national team, which is eagerly awaiting the draw for the 2026 World Cup groups to be held on Friday, 5 December, in Washington.
High hopes
The bar has been set higher for Walid Regragui's team than before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, so the Moroccan Football Federation, chaired by Fouzi Lekjaa, is confident of reaching at least the quarter-finals in the 2026 tournament to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This mission may prove more difficult, as it is the first World Cup to feature 48 participating teams, which further complicates the chances of performing well.
Even so, Morocco currently ranks 11th in the FIFA rankings and this will be its seventh World Cup appearance, after the tournaments in Mexico (1970), Mexico (1986), the United States (1994), France (1998), Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022).
It was at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico that it broke the mould, becoming the first African and Arab team to reach the round of 16.
Advantages in the draw
Its strong performance in the last World Cup, where it was defeated in the semi-finals by runners-up France and then lost the third-place play-off to Croatia, has earned it a privileged position in the draw.
Morocco is included in pot two, alongside the following teams: Croatia, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Of these, only Croatia, its nemesis in the third-place play-off in Qatar, ranks higher than it in the FIFA rankings. If Morocco manages to go one round further than the Croatians, it will enter the FIFA top ten for the first time, a new milestone to be proud of.
Its presence in pot two limits the chances of facing strong opponents in the group, as it would only have one from pot one: Canada, Mexico, the United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium or Germany.
In theory, the opponents in pots three and four should be more manageable for the Moroccan team, especially considering that the draw rules would prevent them from facing a team from the African continent. This would avoid them facing Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Egypt or South Africa, for example. One of their group rivals would come from Norway, Panama, Scotland, Paraguay, Uzbekistan, Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
The last opponent would come from pot four, theoretically the most favourable, including Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti and New Zealand. This pot would also include the teams from the play-offs, among which there could be some “poisoned chalices” such as Italy, Sweden, Poland, Ukraine, Denmark, Ireland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In any case, Morocco's footballing level has grown considerably in recent years, thanks to a determined commitment to youth development and improving football-related infrastructure in the country, which means that the Federation is optimistic and hopeful of doing well in this first entirely North American World Cup. On the horizon is the dream of becoming the first African champion, but for now, it is only a dream.
An experienced team
Another advantage of the Moroccan national team is the experience of its players in international competitions. Players such as Achraf Hakimi, winner of the 2025 African Ballon d'Or and European champion with Paris Saint-Germain; the young Eliesse Ben Seghir, from Germany's Bayer 04 Leverkusen; Brahim Díaz, from Real Madrid; and goalkeeper Yassine Bounou are the pillars of a team with a very balanced squad.
To these must be added the young players from the Under-20 team, champions of the last World Cup held in Chile, where they defeated Argentina in the final. The most outstanding players were Yassir Zabiri, Silver Boot winner with four goals, and Othmane Maamma, Golden Ball winner for best player.
At the helm is Walid Regragui, a coach who has been instrumental in the Moroccan team's leap forward on the international stage. Regragui knows first-hand what it means to represent Morocco as a player, having been a member of the Moroccan national team in the first decade of the century before his retirement in 2011.
Regragui, who also played in the Spanish league for Racing Santander, has had a successful career as Morocco's coach: in the 50 matches he has managed so far, Morocco has achieved 32 victories (72%), 9 draws (18%) and only 5 defeats (10%).
These figures give cause for optimism and are an excellent calling card for a coach nicknamed ‘the Moroccan Guardiola’, who has provided Morocco with a stable and modern working environment.
With a system based on defensive solidity, Regragui is known for his exhaustive analysis of opponents and his preparation of the smallest details, such as penalty shootouts, which are crucial in knockout tournaments.
Regional leader
With his 4-1-4-1 system as a basis, Regragui has modernised the Moroccan national team, moving it away from the usual characteristics of African teams, which combine enormous individual talent with tactical disorder.
Defensive consistency is one of his hallmarks, which was highlighted in the first five games of the last World Cup, in which he conceded just one goal, despite facing Belgium, Spain and Portugal, among others.
So far, their qualifying campaign has been flawless, with eight wins in as many games, securing qualification with two games to spare after thrashing Niger.
Although there are many options and there are still months to go before the World Cup, Regragui's starting eleven would be: Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Abdel Abqar, Souffian El Karouani; Sofyan Amrabat; Brahim Díaz, Neil El Aynaoui, Ismael Saibari, Eliesse Ben Seghir; and Youssef En-Nesyri.
Interestingly, Morocco is the team that makes the best use of players born abroad who choose to represent their parents' country. In Qatar 2022, no fewer than 14 players out of a squad of 26 came from the Moroccan diaspora.
This number could have been even higher if F.C. Barcelona player Lamine Yamal had chosen to represent Morocco instead of Spain. In fact, Moroccan national team goalkeeper Yassine Bounou has stated on more than one occasion that ‘honestly, I feel like he's one of us.’ Even though he chose Spain, in Morocco we feel like he's one of us.