Morocco Faces Spain in Olympic Soccer Semifinal Showdown

For the first time in its history, the Moroccan Olympic team has reached the last four of the Olympic football tournament. Tarik Sektioui’s men are preparing to face Spain in the semifinals, after finishing first in Group B with 6 points and correcting the American team (4-0) in the quarterfinals.

The Moroccan Olympic team is full of Moroccan-Spanish talents like Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, the winger of Real Betis, and Ilias Akhomach playing at Villarreal, both of whom won the 2023 Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations with Morocco. Born in Melilla, goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui, former player of Malaga and Numancia, is also one of the great architects of the historic journey of the Atlas Cubs to the Paris Olympics.

But the most prominent player of the Moroccan Olympic team is striker Soufiane Rahimi from the Saudi club Al Ain and right-back Achraf Hakimi from PSG. With five goals to his name, the former is the top scorer of the tournament. The latter, a former Real Madrid player, scored a fabulous goal in the quarterfinals against the United States, on the facilities of the Parc des Princes, the stadium of PSG where he plays.

Bilal El Khannouss, the midfielder from Genk in Belgium, who participated in the World Cup in Qatar, is also part of the Atlas Cubs at the Paris Olympics. A beautiful adventure that Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid) and Saibari (PSV) could not take part in due to the refusal of their clubs. Morocco will cross crampons with Spain, Monday in Marseille in the semifinals of the Olympic tournament.