Although the Moroccan national team has not achieved outstanding results in most of its participation in the World Cup finals, eyes are always turned to the “Atlas Lions” for the football enjoyment that this Arab team offered during its participation in the most important football event world.
And with Morocco qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar, it will be their sixth participation in the World Cup finals, and the second in a row, having already managed to reach the World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Morocco’s first participation in the World Cup finals hosted by Mexico was in 1970, when the Atlas Lions dropped out of the first leg race, after a first loss against the German “Manshafts” by 2 goals to one, which was followed by a defeat net for three against the Peruvian national team, before succeeding in a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria.
After a long absence of 16 years, the Moroccan national team made their mark in the second edition hosted by Mexico in 1986, when the “Atlas Lions” became the first Arab and African team to manage to qualify for the second round.
At the time, Morocco managed a historic milestone of first place in their group, after defeating their Portuguese counterparts three goals to nil, and then drawing with England and Poland goalless.
In the second round, the Moroccan national team met Germany, and it was the second time that the two teams faced each other in the World Cup, and in that moment the “Manshafts” won with great difficulty with only one goal, and thus ended the wonderful adventure of the companions of the legend Badou Zaki.
The worst… and a “bitter exit”
Morocco’s participation in the World Cup finals in the United States in 1994 is the worst in its history, as the Lions lost their three group games and Belgium beat them by a single goal, before losing to Saudi Arabia and Holland with the same score (2-1).
The Atlas Lions attended the 1998 World Cup in France for the fourth time, which saw the second best appearance of the “red-and-green” team, as they were on the cusp of qualification for the second round after a draw with Norway with two goals for the same, before a defeat to the Brazilian Samba team by three goals, followed by a crushing victory over Scotland by three goals.
However, Morocco exited bitterly from the first round after Brazil lost to Norway, so much so that the pair qualified for the second round, amid questions about whether the “Samba” team had been too lenient in front of the team “Vikings”, after he had secured his qualification beforehand.
In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Moroccan national team found themselves in a very difficult group which included the stars of Portugal and Spain, led by the legend, Ronaldo Cristiano.
Al-Aswad failed to make it through the group stage, after a sudden one-goal defeat to Iran, and before that a tough defeat to Portugal by the same scoreline, before returning to their former glory and drawing with Spain with two goals for the same .
Currently the Moroccan national team, led by the local coach, Walid Regragui, is preparing for a new adventure in Qatar, where on November 23rd they will meet the Croatian national team in their group, before meeting Belgium on the 27th of the same month, to then face the Canadian counterpart on December 1 next.
I work hard for a coach
The Moroccan FA appointed Walid Regraki, 47, as head of the Atlas Lions coaching staff in late August, succeeding Bosnian coach Wahid Halilhodzic, who is credited with guiding Youssef Al-Nusairi’s team-mates to the stage final before being suddenly expelled.
Although Rerakaki does not have a clear football history when he was a player, his experience in the coaching world, despite his relatively short duration, included good results. He was able to lead Wydad Casablanca to crown the Moroccan championship title and the champions d’Africa League this year, and had previously won the Moroccan championship with Al-Fateh Club Rabat.
The Atlas Lions squad is always full of exceptionally talented stars, and this time Sevilla’s Spanish goalkeeper Yassine Bono and his striker partner and brilliant goalscorer Youssef Al-Nusairi will feature in his ranks, as well as right-back Paris Germain Club, Ashraf Hakimi, who is next to him in the defensive line, Bayern Munich star Naseer Mazraoui.
Also on the list are Chelsea’s English star, Hakim Ziyech, who was left out by the previous coach, and his midfield mates Sofiane Boufal, Angie’s French striker, Mounir El Haddadi, Getafe’s Spanish striker, and Badr Bannon, who he used to play in Qatar as he is the striker of Qatar Club.
“big hopes”
On the fortunes of his team, Regragui told AFP: “Moroccans have the right to dream, because we have a team and players on a par with the ambitions and level of the big stars in the world.”
And he continued: “The result will be to get through the first round, because we haven’t done it since 1986, especially because we are a strong group, so we will fight hard. But we can’t make any promises, the only thing I promise is that we will be competitors and fighters in the our pursuit to make our country proud of us”.
The coach, who received three painful blows, added: “We have all the skills and talents to compete for one of the two tickets at the final price. Football has changed, and if we go to Qatar we are afraid, as happened in previous posts , we will not get any results.” positive.”
He continued: “When I visited Qatar a month ago and saw the infrastructure and stadiums, I informed the organizers that we will not come and spend a week in the Qatari capital, but rather we will achieve good results despite the difficulty of the task,” referring to the strong group in which the “Lions of the Atlas” are present.
For her part, striker Sofiane Boufal backed up her coach’s words, saying: “We have nothing to lose, and therefore we have to play without fear and confidence in our qualifiers. Football is witnessing many surprises, and many teams have achieved unexpected results and have gone far in the global marriage”.
For his part, Rekragui referred to the crowd’s support in Doha: “We will play as if we were in Morocco. I have no doubt that our fans will play a decisive role in tipping our balance and motivating the players to make every effort.”
“stay away from squabbles”
In a telephone interview with the Al-Hurra website, Bahraini journalist and sports analyst Ahmed Karim believes that “Arab teams in general are capable of achieving good results despite the difficulty of the task, but provided that they do not run out of points and provide the best level for the stars of those teams.”
Karim underlined that “the Moroccan national team could be the luckiest of the rest of the Arab teams to reach the second round, despite the presence of strong teams in its group, in particular last season’s runners-up, Croatia, and the Belgian national team, which exhibits high-level performance”.
He continued: “However, the Moroccan national team is also full of professional players in Europe’s major leagues, and we hope they live up to it, especially as they will enjoy great support from the Arab public, as the tournament is held for the first time on Arab soil.”
In the same context, sports analyst and journalist Ali Al-Zein believes Atlas Lions are the most likely to progress past the group stage compared to the fortunes of the other Arab teams, namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
In his speech to Al-Hurra, Al-Zein attributes the factors of the ability of the Moroccan national team to present good and strong performances, that “the Croatian national team is no longer the one (bogey) who managed to reach the final match in the World Cup in Russia four years ago, as its level has greatly declined and its first star, Luka Modric, is over thirty-seven, despite his brilliance in his last year with Real Madrid.
And he adds: “As far as the Belgian national team is concerned, they too have gone through a golden period in recent years without unfortunately winning any championships, and are now in a phase of graphic decline, and I don’t expect them to progress in the tournament, but Morocco must also be careful in their recent confrontation with the Canadian national team, who are described by some as a weak team, but conversely lead their group at the expense of Mexico and the United States.
Al-Zein concluded by saying: “I think the Moroccan national team can get through the group stage, provided that Hakim Ziyech and his companions show 110 per cent of their level, not just 100 per cent, and that the stars of the team are far from Quarrels and disagreements in the locker room, as occurred on previous occasions, which negatively affected the skills of the Atlas Lions”.
