Morocco’s World Cup Odyssey: From Underdogs to Contenders

Morocco participated in its first World Cup in 1970 in Mexico. A rather unsuccessful experience for the Atlas Lions, who finished last in their group with 1 point, behind Germany, Peru and Bulgaria. The Moroccan team played in its second World Cup, sixteen years later, in 1986 in Mexico. The Moroccan players had taken the lead in Group F with 4 points, followed by England (3), Poland (3) and Portugal (2). They had also managed to reach the round of 16 where they lost 1-0 to Germany. At the 1994 World Cup in the United States, Morocco was eliminated in the first round, without any points in Group F, while the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Belgium each had six points.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, Morocco improved its level, but finished third in its group with four points, behind Brazil (6) and Norway (5) and ahead of Scotland (1). The Atlas Lions performed poorly at the 2018 Russia World Cup, leaving the competition in the first round with only one point, finishing last in their group, behind Spain (5), Portugal (5) and Iran (4). The Moroccan team created a surprise at the 2022 Qatar World Cup by managing to qualify for the semi-finals, becoming the first African team to reach this level of the competition.

The Moroccan players made an impression during this tournament, finishing top of Group F with 7 points, ahead of Croatia (5), Belgium (4) and Canada (0), and by beating Spain in the round of 16, then Portugal (1-0) in the quarter-finals before losing to France (2-0) in the semi-finals. Achraf Hakimi and his teammates also failed to win the third-place match against Croatia (1-2).