Olympique de Marseille

Morocco made history at Qatar 2022 by becoming the first African and first Arab nation to reach a FIFA World Cup semi-final, eliminating Belgium, Spain, and Portugal along the way before a narrow 2-0 defeat to France ended one of the competition’s greatest ever underdog runs.

The Atlas Lions under coach Walid Regragui play a system built on defensive organisation, relentless pressing, and fast transitions. The spine of the squad is settled and experienced: Romain Saiss leads from central defence, Achraf Hakimi marauds from right-back with the freedom of a winger, and Hakim Ziyech’s technical quality and left foot create unpredictability in the final third. Youssef En-Nesyri, who scored in every knockout round in Qatar, remains the principal striker and has since developed his game at Sevilla and Fenerbahce.

Morocco’s 2022 tournament run was defined by two tactical elements. Their defensive block, a deep 4-1-4-1 that compressed space and denied Spain and Portugal any rhythm, was the most statistically impressive in the tournament. Their counter-attacking speed, particularly through Hakimi and Sofiane Boufal, was among the fastest in the competition. The semi-final against France, lost 2-0, came after Morocco played 540 minutes of knockout football in two weeks without a starting goalkeeper who had been fit from the beginning.

Before Qatar, Morocco’s best World Cup result was a group-stage win over Portugal at Mexico 1986, when they topped their group and went out in the last sixteen against West Germany. The 2022 run put decades of promise into a single, unforgettable month.

Morocco operates on Western European Time, UTC+1 year-round. A 20:00 kickoff in Rabat or Casablanca is 19:00 in London and 14:00 in New York. Check Morocco time for your local conversion before every match.