AFCON 2024: Team to watch out for is Morocco

Posted : 10 January 2024

Perhaps the standout team to watch in the 2024 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) is the Atlas Lions of Morocco. They are the highest-ranked team in Africa on the FIFA ranking, sitting at 13th globally. The Atlas Lions are definitely a team to beat, especially since they are the first country to qualify for AFCON 2024.

Morocco became the first team to qualify for the 2023 AFCON after a 2-2 draw between South Africa and Liberia, the other two teams in their qualifying group.

The Atlas Lions will make their 19th official appearance in the pan-African football championship. The Moroccan team won each of their Group K matches against their South African and Liberian counterparts, with scores of 2-1 and 2-0, respectively, sending them to the top of their qualifying group table.

All matches featuring Zimbabwe, the final team in Group K, were canceled after their football federation was suspended by FIFA for interference by the Zimbabwean government in the country’s football league.

Morocco, however, has only won once, in 1976, about 48 years ago, and came in as a silver medalist in 2004 in Tunisia, their next-door neighbor. The Atlas Lions won bronze about 44 years ago in 1980 when Nigeria also won the tournament for the first time.

Instructively, the Atlas Lions of Morocco remain one of Africa's most successful national football teams, although with fewer medals, they have made inclusions in global competitions. Morocco won the 1976 African Cup of Nations, two African Nations Championships, and a FIFA Arab Cup and has participated in the FIFA World Cup six times.

The Atlas Lions etched their name in the history book in 1986 when they did the unthinkable by becoming the first African team to finish top of a group at a World Cup and the first African team to reach the knockout stages. However, they eventually lost to West Germany 1–0.

Replicating the feat achieved in the 1986 World Cup, Morocco defied all odds at the last 2022 FIFA World Cup, once again topping the group that contained Croatia, Canada, and Belgium. Morocco to top the group.

In a most unthinkable fashion, the Atlas Lions of Morocco sent former world cup champions, Spain, out of the competition and had the great Portugal team, led by five-time Ballon D'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, for breakfast with a 1-0 win.

The win over Portugal further set up the Atlas Lions of Morocco as the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. They were also the third-ever semi-finalist not from UEFA or CONMEBOL.

The team was eventually knocked out by France in the semi-finals and lost the third-place play-off, finishing in 4th place, their highest-ever finish.

Winning another first, Morocco is also set to become the second African nation, the second Arab nation, and the first North African nation to host the FIFA World Cup when it was granted host status for the 2030 edition alongside the two European countries Portugal and Spain.

The Atlas Lions were ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings in April 1998. They were ranked as the top African national team for three consecutive years, from 1997 to 1999, and again since December 2022. As of September 2023, Morocco is ranked as the 13th best national team in the world.

Now all eyes will be on Morocco to reignite the fire that saw the team defeat the superpowers of football in the World Cup, as players within the rank of the team have expressed their satisfaction with the training atmosphere in Cote d'Ivoire, the venue of the 2023 AFCON.

Speaking about the team’s readiness to participate in the continental tournament, the Moroccan goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi said, “everything is fine. I am very happy to be here. We are training seriously, waiting for the competition to start in the best possible way to achieve our goal.”

“We know that Moroccan fans are waiting for us, and we will do everything to win the cup. We will give 200 percent to be crowned [champions],” Mohamedi stressed following Morocco’s first training session in the Ivorian city of San Pedro on January 8.

Midfielder Bilal El Khannouss stated that the conditions, including the hotel, the pitch, and the weather are excellent, setting the Moroccan national team in a favorable position to get ready for the tournament.

“Everything is available for us to prepare well. The weather today was not very hot because it has rained recently,” El Khannouss said.

“We are aware that Moroccan fans support us in every competition as usual, and we will do everything to make them proud,” the 19-year-old player added, thanking the Moroccan fans for their support.

With a few days to go before the kick-off of the competition, Morocco will play a friendly match against Sierra Leone on January 11, as part of their preparation for the AFCON.

The highly-anticipated African tournament will run between January 13 and February 11, with Morocco competing in Group F of the group stage matches with Tanzania, DR Congo, and The Gambia.

The Atlas Lions’ first match on January 17 will be against Tanzania at the San Pedro stadium.

Morocco’s list of players for AFCON 2024 includes Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Sofyan Amrabat, Nayef Aguerd, Ghanem Saiss, Hakim Ziyach, Azz-eddine Ounahi, Tarik Tissoudali, Amine Harit, and Ismael Saibari.

The list also includes Monir El kajoui, Yahya Jabrane, Ayoub El kaabi, Yunis Abdelhamid, Sofiane daouda Diop, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, Jawad El yamiq, Youssef En-nesyri, Yahya Attiat allah el idrissi, Walid Cheddira, El mehdi Benabid, Bilal El khannouss, and Amine Adli.

Also on the list are Ayoub El amloud, Michael Amir Junior Richardson, Ibrahim Salah, Abdelkabir Abqar, Benjamin Bouchaouari, Sofiane Boufal, Selim Amallah, Abderrazzaq Hamed-allah, Badr Benoun, Youssef El motie, Anas Zniti, Amine El ouaad, Munir El haddadi, and Adam Masina.

Completing the list are Samy Mmaee a nwambeben, Rayan Yacine Mmaee a nwambeben, Youssef Maleh, Neil Yoni El aynaoui, and Mourad Batna.

Now, Africa awaits its beautiful bride to work the magic again in Cote d'Ivoire.

AFCON 2024: Team to watch out for is Morocco

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