Morocco national football team


The Morocco national football team represents Morocco in men's international football. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Morocco. It has been affiliated with FIFA since 1960, with CAF since 1959, and with UNAF since 2005. The team is known as the Atlas Lions. They play home matches at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat and train at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Salé.
Morocco is regarded as one of Africa’s most successful national football teams. They have won four continental titles, including the 1976 African Cup of Nations and the African Nations Championship in 2018, 2020 and 2024. Morocco has also qualified for the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions. In 1986, they made history as the first African team to top a World Cup group and advance to the knockout stage, where they were eliminated 1–0 by eventual runner-up West Germany. In the World Cup 1998, Morocco also played strongly but unfotunately failed to advance from the group stage. Twenty years later, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Morocco topped a group that included Croatia, Canada and Belgium. They then went on to defeat Spain and Portugal, becoming the first African and first Arab team to reach a World Cup semi-final. They were also the third World Cup semi-finalist from outside Europe or South America. In 2025, Morocco set a world record for the longest winning streak in international football, achieving 19 consecutive victories across all competitions.
The Atlas Lions were ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings in April 1998. They were Africa’s highest-ranked national team for three consecutive years, from 1997 to 1999, and have again occupied that position since December 2022., Morocco is ranked 8th in the world, the highest ranking by an African team since Nigeria in 1994.
Morocco is set to become the second African nation, the second MENA nation, and the first North African nation to host the FIFA World Cup, after being chosen as a co-host for the 2030 edition alongside Portugal and Spain.

History

Formation and early years

The Moroccan national team was founded in 1928 and played its first game on 22 December of that year against France's B team, losing 2–1. This team, formed by the best footballers of the LMFA, or the Moroccan Football League, was active in friendly matches against other North African teams such as Algeria and Tunisia. These associations of settler clubs and local footballers, in addition to having their own championship, clashed with each other in a tournament that Morocco won several times, such as in 1948–1949. The LMFA also faced other club teams such as NK Lokomotiva Zagreb in January 1950, as well as France A and France B.
On 9 September 1954, an earthquake struck the Algerian region of Orléansville, destroying the city and killing 1,400 people. On 7 October 1954, the French Football Association and the Maghreb inhabitants organized a charity match to raise funds for the families of the victims of the earthquake. In the match, held at the Parc de Princes in Paris, a team made up of Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians played against France. Led by star Larbi Benbarek, the Maghreb selection managed to win 3–2, a month before the Toussaint Rouge attacks by the Algerian National Liberation Front which marked the beginning of the Algerian War.
In 1955, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation was established, at the end of the French protectorate of Morocco, which had lasted since 1912.
On 19 October 1957, at the second edition of the Arab Games in Lebanon, Morocco made its debut as an independent country against Iraq, at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, and drew 3–3. At the tournament, Morocco recorded their first-ever win, defeating Libya 5–1, then beat Tunisia 3–1 to reach the semi-finals. After a 1–1 draw with Syria, lots were drawn to decide who would progress to the final, and Syria were selected at Morocco's expense. Morocco withdrew from the third-place play-off against Lebanon and finished fourth overall.
Between 1957 and 1958, Morocco held numerous friendly matches against the National Liberation Front team, the representative of Algeria before its independence in 1958. In 1959, the team took part for the first time in an international competition, the qualifying rounds of the 1960 Rome Olympics. Drawn into a group with Tunisia and Malta, Morocco finished second on goal difference and failed to progress. That same year, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation joined FIFA.
In 1960, Morocco competed in World Cup qualification for the first time. Drawn against Tunisia in the first round, Morocco won the first leg 2–1, while Tunisia won the second leg by the same score. A play-off held in Palermo, Italy finished in a draw, so a coin toss was used to determine who progressed. Morocco won the toss, and beat Ghana 1–0 on aggregate to reach the inter-continental play-offs. Drawn against Spain, Morocco lost 4–2 on aggregate and thus failed to qualify.
The following year, Morocco held the Pan-Arab Games and won the football tournament, winning all five of their matches. Their third match, against Saudi Arabia, resulted in Morocco's biggest-ever victory, winning 13–1. They also claimed their first two wins against a European team, beating East Germany 2–1 and 2–0.
In 1963, the Moroccan team came close to qualifying for the African Cup of Nations; in the decisive play-off against Tunisia, they were defeated 4–1 in Tunis and won 4–2 at home, therefore being eliminated. At the 1963 Mediterranean Games in Naples, they finished fourth after a 2–1 defeat in the final for third place against Spain's reserve team.

First appearances in international competitions (1963–1976)

Morocco participated in the final phase of an international competition for the first time at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Having qualified under the leadership of manager Mohamed Massoun, the Moroccans were included in a group of three teams due to the withdrawal of North Korea. Morocco lost both their matches, against Hungary and Yugoslavia.
In 1966, the Moroccan Football Association joined the Confederation of African Football, and the team participated in qualifying for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Their debut eliminated Senegal and Tunisia after a draw. In the final round of the preliminaries, against Sudan and Nigeria, Morocco obtained five points, finishing ahead of Nigeria. Shortly after, Morocco lost the decisive play-off against Algeria to enter the final stage of the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations.
Morocco thus became the first African national team to qualify for the World Cup after having played in an elimination tournament. The Moroccan team, coached by the Yugoslav Blagoje Vidinić, consisted entirely of players in the Moroccan league, including Driss Bamous and Ahmed Faras.
On 3 June 1970, against West Germany, Morocco opened the scoring with a goal in the 21st minute of the game scored by Houmane Jarir. In the second half, however, the Germans scored twice and won 2–1. The Atlas Lions then played against Peru, conceding three goals in ten minutes to lose 3–0. On 11 June 1970, the eliminated Moroccans drew with Bulgaria 1–1. It was the first point obtained by an African national team at the World Cup.
In 1972 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, the Atlas Lions ousted Algeria, then faced Egypt, defeating them 3–0 in the first leg and suffering a 3–2 defeat on the way back. However, the aggregate win meant they qualified for the final phase of the continental tournament for the first time. In the group stage, they accumulated three 1–1 draws against Congo, Sudan and Zaire and were eliminated in the first round. All three Moroccan goals were scored by Ahmed Faras.
Qualifying for the 1972 Olympics in Munich with two wins and two draws, Morocco debuted in Group A with a goalless draw against the United States, then lost 3–0 against hosts West Germany and defeated Malaysia 6–0 with a Faras hat-trick, thereby advancing to the second round. Due to defeats against USSR, Denmark and Poland, they were eliminated from the tournament; finishing bottom of their group.
In the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, Morocco successfully passed three qualifying rounds before entering the final stage alongside Zambia and Zaire. Losing 4–0 away against Zambia, the Moroccans bounced back in the second game, defeating the same opponent 2–0 at home. They then went to Zaire for their third game but lost 3–0, conceding all three goals in the second half, with Faras leaving the field due to injury. Morocco filed an appeal, trying to get the match to be replayed; it was dismissed by FIFA. In protest, Morocco withdrew from the qualifiers causing the Atlas Lions to miss their final game at home against Zaire which had already qualified for the finals, with FIFA awarding Zaire a 2–0 win on walkover. For the same reason, Morocco also decided not to take part in the 1974 African Cup of Nations qualification. As a result, in 1974, Morocco played only two games, both against Algeria, achieving a 2–0 win and a 0–0 draw. Morocco then resumed playing in FIFA and CAF competitions, qualifying for the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations by eliminating Ghana in the last round, but failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympics, being eliminated by Nigeria.

Between successes and defeats (1976–1986)

Morocco, coached by the Romanian Virgil Mărdărescu and captained by Faras, took the continental throne at 1976 African Cup of Nations, in only the country's second participation in the competition. Ahmed Makrouh scored in the final to equalize at 1–1, which gave Morocco the first, and to date, only cup in its history.
After failing to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, they also missed the 1978 and 1982 tournaments. At the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations, they were eliminated in the first round, while in 1980 they finished in third place, beating Egypt 2–0. They then won the 1983 Mediterranean Games, played at home, after a 3–0 win in the final against Turkey B.
Morocco did not qualify for either the 1982 or 1984 Africa Cup of Nations. Two years later, they finished fourth, losing 3–2 in the third-place play-off to Ivory Coast.