The Peninsula
Morocco made light work of their World Cup qualification campaign, cruising to six victories in the second round, scoring 20 goals in the process. As group winners, the Atlas Lions met DR Congo in the playoff decider.
They drew the first leg in Kinshasa 1-1 but were no match for their Central African opponents, booking their FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 spot and their sixth appearance at the Mundial thanks to a thumping 4-1 victory at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca.
Vahid Halilhodvic must have thought his apparent curse of failing to take the team he qualified for the World Cup to the actual tournament would end with Morocco (he had qualified Ivory Coast and Japan for the 2010 and 2018 tournaments, respectively), but the federation had other ideas. He was sacked for what they called ‘differences of opinions.’
The Bosnian had well-documented issues with top stars like Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui – a situation many believe got him the sack.
Step in one of the top young Moroccan and Arab football tacticians, Walid Regragui.
The 46-year-old recently clinched the CAF Champions League with Wydad in May and is no stranger to Qatar as a country, having led Al Duhail to QNB Stars league title. However, Morocco have struggled at the World Cup since their famed 1986 team became the first African and Arab country to reach the tournament’s second round.
Regragui has had only two matches in charge of the North Africans, both friendlies with South American opponents in which they beat Chile 2-0 and a barren draw with Paraguay. Places in Group F at the World Cup alongside 2018 third-place winners Belgium, a resurgent and young Canada team, and 2018 finalists Croatia, Regragui faces an uphill task -- his final 26-man squad for the World Cup shows he knows the challenge ahead.
Ziyech, who had quit the national team, and mercurial Paris Saint-Germain right back Achraf Hakimi will lead the Atlas Lions charge in Qatar. Both are two of nine players returning for a second successive World Cup after being included in the Herve Renard-led squad in Russia four years ago, where morocco was eliminated in the group stage.
“We worked hard on this list with the staff, it’s the best possible line-up to defend our colours,” Regragui told journalists in Rabat during the announcement.
Uncapped Belgian-born teenage midfielder Bilal El Khannouss also got a call-up, while Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri who has struggled for form all season, will be charged with leading the forward line.
Bayern Munich, Mazraoui, Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, while forwards Angers Soufiane Boufal and Al Ittihad’s Abderrazak Hamdallah ‘the Executioner’, who last played for the Atlas Lions in 2019, have also made the list.
“We’re hoping every Moroccan will be behind us and support us,” Regradui said.
Morocco will play Georgia in a friendly on November 17 before kicking off their campaign against Croatia on November 23 at the Al Bayt Stadium.