Blow for Azzedine Ounahi

Ounahi asked to be substituted in the final minutes of the game after suddenly feeling pain. Pending the severity of the injury suffered by the Moroccan international, his presence at the next gathering of the Atlas Lions, which should start this Monday, is already compromised.

The Moroccan midfielder is among the players called up by Walid Regragui for the matches against Gabon and Lesotho, counting for the fifth and sixth rounds of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) qualifiers in Morocco. Obviously, Ounahi’s injury will disrupt the plans of the Moroccan coach, who will have to find the ideal profile to replace the Panathinaikos player, considered a key piece of the Atlas Lions squad.

In addition to Ounahi, the Moroccan team will have to play its next two matches without Ilias Akhomach. The Moroccan striker from Villarreal suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that will keep him away from the pitch for a long period. However, the absence of these two key players offers the opportunity for other players to prove that they deserve their place in the team.

Morocco face Gabon on Friday, November 15 at the Franceville stadium, as part of the fifth round of the 2025 CAN qualifiers. Regragui’s men will then challenge Lesotho at home on November 18 in Oujda.