Morocco National Team Adds Young Talents for World Cup Qualifiers

15 March 2025 – bySylvanus@Bladi · 2 min read

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) has managed to snatch young talents from Belgium, Algeria, France and Spain. The latter are summoned for the Atlas Lions’ matches against Niger and Tanzania scheduled for March 21 and 25, 2025 as part of the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers.

Chamseddine Talbi, Bilal Nadir and Omar El Hilali. These are the new faces of the Atlas Lions. The first is the striker of Club Bruges in Belgium. He preferred Morocco to Belgium despite his complete career in the Belgian youth teams, from U15 to U18. This change of nationality caused outrage in Belgium. This season, he has scored 7 goals and provided 5 assists in 37 games in all competitions. The 19-year-old player also contributed to his club’s qualification for the Champions League round of 16, before being eliminated by Aston Villa.

After a vain controversy and a long wait, Bilal Nadir, the midfielder of Olympique de Marseille, who has Moroccan, Algerian and French nationalities, has joined the Atlas Lions squad. He is one of the most promising talents of the French club this season. This 21-year-old player has scored a goal in 14 matches this season.

The other talent that the FRMF has managed to convince to defend the colors of the Moroccan flag is Omar El Hilali. This Moroccan-Spanish player trained at the Espanyol academy is currently on the rise. He has provided two assists in 25 matches this season. His profile interests several clubs including FC Barcelona. His call-up for the next matches of the Atlas Lions is the realization of a wish he had expressed after representing all the categories of the Moroccan national team.

The young talent was part of the Moroccan Olympic selection that won the U23 Africa Cup of Nations under the direction of coach Issam Charai. He believes in his talent and says he is capable of adapting to other positions, such as central defender, given the strong competition in his position with the presence of Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui.

Hamza Igamane completes the list of new players called up. Currently, the striker of Glasgow Rangers (Scotland) is shining with his new club. He has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, making an impression. He could be an ideal replacement for Ayoub El Kaabi, absent from the list, due to injury.