Morocco Seeks Round of 16 Spot in Crucial AFCON Match Against Zambia

Morocco will face Zambia (winner of the 2012 edition) on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at the Laurent Pokou stadium in San Pedro, in the final round of the group stage of the 2023 CAN in Côte d’Ivoire. This will be an opportunity for the Atlas Lions to fight to qualify for the round of 16. With four points, they remain the leaders of group F ahead of the DRC, in 2nd place, tied on points (2) with Zambia. A draw against the Chipolopolos will allow the semi-finalists of the last World Cup to validate their ticket. But before reaching this stage of the competition, changes are necessary for Walid Regragui.

The Moroccan coach must line up other players to replace captain Romain Saïss, Hakim Ziyech, Amin Adli and Selim Amallah, all four sanctioned with a yellow card. If they play the match against Zambia and receive another yellow card, they will not be able to be lined up for the next match in case of qualification for the round of 16. If Walid decides to replace them, he could place other players on his list: Chadi Riad or Younes Abdelhamid as potential replacements for captain Saïss. Saibari and Harit could replace Ziyech and Adli. He could trust another player to replace Amallah. Regragui could also choose to replace two of the four sanctioned players. The answer will come on Wednesday afternoon for the announcement of the list.