The Morocco A' national football team (Arabic: منتخب المغرب لكرة القدم للمحليين) is the local national football team of Morocco and is open only to domestic league players.[1] It has won the African Nations Championship twice (2018 and 2020).
| Nickname(s) | The Atlas Lions | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | FRMF (Morocco) | ||
| Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
| Head coach | Hussein Ammouta | ||
| Captain | Badr Benoun | ||
| Most caps | Abdelilah Hafidi (25) | ||
| Top scorer | Ayoub El Kaabi (14) | ||
| FIFA code | MAR | ||
| |||
| African Nations Championship | |||
| Appearances | 5 (first in 2014) | ||
| Best result | Champions (2018, 2020) | ||
The primary men's Morocco national football team contains expatriate players and represents Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations.
History
editThe Local Atlas Lions were eliminated in the qualifiers for the first two editions of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in 2009 and 2011, before qualifying for the first time to the CHAN in the 2014 edition, which was hosted in South Africa instead of Libya, who were initially supposed to organize the only continental national competition for local players.
During their first participation in the competition, the Moroccans, led by coach Hassan Benaabicha (who, in replacement of Rachid Taoussi, was asked to manage the team just a few days before the start of the final tournament), did not make it past the second round. Rachid Taoussi had been behind the qualification of the Moroccans to the competition, but did not have the chance to go further than that, as he was replaced by Benaabicha, who had done well in various regional and international competitions at the time with other lower categories Moroccan national teams.
The first two matches for the Moroccans in the tournament were 0–0 and 1–1 draws against Zimbabwe and Burkina Faso, respectively. It was only after the third match that the Local Atlas Lions could ensure qualification to the second round, after beating Uganda 3–1. In the quarter-finals, Morocco were beaten surprisingly by Nigeria 3–4, after leading 3–0 in the first half.
In 2016, it was another Moroccan coach, with the famous name of Mohamed “El General” Fakhir, who led the Moroccans to qualification for the second consecutive time at the CHAN, which was organized in Rwanda. However, this was even worse than their previous tournament run, with the Atlas Lions eliminated in the first round after finishing third in their group.
The team's final match, an astonishing 4–1 win against host country Rwanda, could not prevent the Moroccans' elimination; they had already suffered a scoreless draw against Gabon and a 0–1 defeat against the Ivory Coast in their first two matches.[2]
However, Moroccan fans could enjoy not only the hosting of the CHAN in the kingdom two years later in 2018,[3] but also a tournament victory for their local national team, which became the third North African country to win the competition's title, after Tunisia, winners in 2011, and Libya in 2014.[4] The road was not easy for Moroccan players, who were coached by Jamal Sellami in 2018, as they had to face strong, experienced African National teams, especially in the semi-final and final matches. In the group phase, the path was easier, with a 4–0 victory against Mauritania followed by a second 3–1 win against Guinea, before a scoreless draw against Sudan in the final group match. The Local Atlas Lions finished top of their group with 7 points out of 9 to advance to the quarter-finals, where they beat Namibia 2–0 in Casablanca.[5][6]
On 31 January 2018, Al Mountakhab made history, as they qualified for the final match of the CHAN for the first time in their history after beating 2014 title winners Libya 3–1 at the Mohamed V stadium in Casablanca.[7] The final match was a flurry of Moroccan goals. Four in total were scored, by Zakaria Hadraf in both the 44th and 61st minutes, Walid El Karti in the 64th minute, as well as Ayoub El Kaabi (top scorer of the competition) in the 73rd minute, to win a first CHAN title for the kingdom.[8][9]
In February 2021, Morocco won their second title after a 2–0 win over Mali in the final in Cameroon.[10]
African Nations Championship record
edit| African Nations Championship record | African Nations Championship qualification record | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
 2009 |
Did not qualify | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||||||||
 2011
|
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |||||||||
 2014 |
Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 2016 |
Group stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 3 | |
 2018 |
Champions | 1st | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
 2020 |
Champions | 1st | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
 2022 |
Withdrew | ||||||||||||||
   2024 |
To be determined | To be determined | |||||||||||||
| Total | 2 Titles | 4/7 | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 42 | 13 | 16 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 27 | 14 | |
Recent results and forthcoming fixtures
edit2022
edit| 20 August Friendly | Qatar  | 2–2 | Morocco | Vienna, Austria |
| Stadium: Ernst-Happel-Stadion |
Current team status
edit2020 African Nations Championship
editGroup C
edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Rwanda
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 |  Togo
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Uganda
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 1 |
| Morocco | 1–0 | Togo |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Quarter-finals
edit| Morocco | 3–1 |  Zambia |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Semi-finals
edit| Morocco | 4–0 | Cameroon |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
Final
edit
Honours and awards
edit
Honours
edit
Awards
editAfrican Nations Championship Best player
African Nations Championship Top scorer
African Nations Championship Best goalkeeper
Arab Cup Best player
Arab Cup Top scorer
Squad
editThe following players were called up for the 2020 African Nations Championship in Cameroon.
Caps and goals only in the current competition, as of 7 February 2021 after the match against Mali.
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Anas Zniti | 28 August 1988 | 18 | 0 | Raja CA
|
| 22 | GK | Mohamed Amsif | 7 February 1989 | 2 | 0 | Fath US
|
| 12 | GK | Abdelali Mhamdi | 29 October 1991 | 4 | 0 | RS Berkane
|
| 2 | DF | El Mehdi Karnass | 12 March 1990 | 2 | 0 | DH Jadida
|
| 3 | DF | Abdelkrim Baadi | 14 April 1996 | 2 | 0 | RS Berkane
|
| 4 | DF | Ismael Mokadem | 26 July 1995 | 0 | 0 | RS Berkane
|
| 13 | DF | Hamza El Moussaoui | 7 April 1993 | 6 | 1 | MA Tétouan
|
| 15 | DF | Soufiane Bouftini | 3 August 1994 | 7 | 2 | HUS Agadir
|
| 23 | DF | Omar Namsaoui | 4 April 1990 | 4 | 0 | RS Berkane
|
| 24 | DF | Abdellah Khafifi | 19 February 1993 | 0 | 0 | MC Oujda
|
| 27 | DF | Abdelmounaim Boutouil | 1 September 1998 | 6 | 0 | SCC Mohammedia
|
| 5 | MF | Yahya Jabrane | 18 June 1991 | 7 | 2 | Wydad AC
|
| 6 | MF | Mohammed Ali Bemammer | 19 November 1989 | 11 | 2 | IR Tanger
|
| 8 | MF | Larbi Naji | 14 December 1990 | 5 | 0 | RS Berkane
|
| 10 | MF | Walid El Karti | 23 July 1994 | 10 | 4 | Wydad AC
|
| 11 | MF | Reda Jaadi | 14 February 1995 | 1 | 0 | Fath US
|
| 25 | MF | Nawfel Zerhouni | 14 September 1995 | 1 | 0 | Fath US
|
| 31 | MF | Noah Sadaoui | 14 September 1993 | 4 | 0 |  Kerala Blasters
|
| 7 | FW | Zakaria Hadraf | 12 March 1990 | 2 | 0 | Raja CA
|
| 9 | FW | Ayoub El Kaabi | 26 June 1993 | 13 | 12 | Wydad AC
|
| 18 | FW | Abdelilah Hafidi | 30 January 1992 | 25 | 6 | Raja CA
|
| 21 | FW | Soufiane Rahimi | 2 June 1996 | 10 | 6 | Raja CA
|
| 26 | FW | Adam Ennafati | 29 June 1994 | 2 | 0 | MC Oujda
|
| 29 | FW | Walid Azarou | 19 September 1995 | 17 | 11 | MC Oujda
|
Manager: Hussein Ammouta
Previous squads
edit- African Nations Championship squads
References
edit- ^ "Morocco A' National football Team official page".
- ^ "Morocco Results". ESPN. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Morocco replace Kenya as CHAN hosts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Morocco to host 2018 African Nations Championship amid Kenya's problems". MARCA in English. 15 October 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Bencharki caps dream CHAN start for Morocco". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ Mumbere, Daniel (18 January 2018). "CHAN 2018: Morocco, Sudan qualify for the quarter finals". Africanews. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "Hosts Morocco through to CHAN final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "CHAN : CAN AMMOUTA BRING HOME TITLE N°2 ?".
- ^ "Hosts Morocco crowned CHAN champions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
- ^ "CHAN: Morocco sink Mali to become first team to retain title". BBC Sport. 7 February 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
