Morocco Omits Ziyech from World Cup Qualifier Squad, Coach Halilhodzic Names 27 Players

30 September 2021 – byGinette · 2 min read

The list of players called up for Morocco’s next three matches was unveiled on Thursday at a press conference led by Vahid Halilhodzic. As expected, Moroccan international Hakim Ziyech was not called up.

In total, 27 players were called up by the national coach to take part in this triple confrontation of Morocco, counting for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar. Some big returns were noted. These are Fayçal Fajr, Ayoub El Kaabi, Soufiane Rahimi and a first call-up like that of Ayoub El Amloud.

The Atlas Lions will face Guinea-Bissau in the first leg on Wednesday, October 6 at the Moulay Abdellah Complex in Rabat. The return match will be played on October 9 at the Mohammed V Complex in Casablanca. On October 12, Vahid Halilhodzic’s protégés will face Guinea in Rabat. This is a match that counted for the 2nd round of the World Cup qualifiers, but had been postponed due to the military coup in Conakry.

The called up players are Yassine Bounou (FC Seville), Mounir El Kajoui (Hatayspor), Anas Zniti (Raja), Sami Tlemcani (FC Chelsea), Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Ayoub El Amloud (Wydad), Adam Masina (Watford), Soufiane El Karouani (NEC Nijmegen), Samy Mamaee (Ferencvarosi), Soufian Chakla (Villarreal), Ghanem Saiss (Wolverhampton), Nayef Aguerd (Stade Rennais). There are also Fayçal Fajr (Sivasspor), Aymen Barkok (Francfurt), Soufyan Amrabat (Fiorentina), Imran Louza (Watford), Abdou Harroui (US Sassulo), Ilias Chair (Queens Park), and Selim Amallah (Standard de Liège).

Also present at the training camp and the three matches will be Achraf Bencherki (Zamalek), Munir El Haddadi (FC Seville), Soufiane Boufal (Angers), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Youssef En-Nesyri (FC Seville), Ayoub El Kaabi (Hatayspor), Ryan Mmaee (Ferencvarosi), Zakaria Aboukhlal (Az Alkmaar).