Morocco World Cup talking points: Atlas Lions have high hopes under new leadership of Mohamed Ouahbi

After making history at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by becoming the first-ever African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals in the competition, Morocco head to North America this summer with a new coach, a reimagined squad, higher expectations, against tricky opposition.

The Atlas Lions will be making their seventh appearance – and third in a row – in the World Cup finals and have landed in Group C alongside Brazil, Scotland, and Haiti.

How Morocco qualified for the 2026 World Cup

Morocco were the first nation from the African continent to punch their ticket to the 2026 World Cup after sweeping their CAF qualifying Group E with a 100 per cent winning record.

Group E was limited to just five teams – Morocco, Zambia, Congo, Tanzania and Niger – after Eritrea’s withdrawal, and there was further disruption when Congo got suspended between February and May 2025 due to government interference in their football federations affairs.

Morocco comfortably topped the group with a maximum 24 points from eight victories, keeping six clean sheets and conceding just two goals.

Morocco and Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi was the top-scorer of the group, with four goals, one ahead of his compatriot Ismael Saibari.

How are they shaping up?

It’s been an interesting time for the Moroccans, who went from suffering a heartbreaking and dramatic loss to Senegal in a controversial Africa Cup of Nations final, on home soil, only to be awarded the title on appeal two months later.

The Atlas Lions also got a new head coach, Mohamed Ouahbi, after Walid Regragui, who had a highly-successful three-and-a-half-year stint at the helm, announced in March that he was stepping down from his role.

The Belgium-born Ouahbi was in charge of the Morocco U20 squad that won a historic World Cup title in Chile last year.

Taking on the role just three months before Morocco kick off their World Cup campaign against Brazil in New Jersey, Ouahbi had no time to waste and found himself in the dugout during two key friendlies a mere three weeks after his appointment.

In his first games in charge, Morocco drew 1-1 with Ecuador at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid before beating Paraguay 2-1 at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens, France.

Roma midfielder Neil El Aynaoui was on the scoresheet in both games, redeeming himself after his penalty was saved earlier in the game against Ecuador. El Aynaoui was one of the biggest revelations of Morocco’s run to the Afcon title and he impressed in his first two games under Ouahbi.

The Moroccans plan on playing two more warm-up games ahead of the World Cup, one against Madagascar at Grand Stade de Marrakech on June 2 and one against Norway at Sports Illustrated Stadium in New Jersey on June 7.

They also beat Burundi 5-0 in a closed-door friendly.

Evolving squad shaped by new leadership

Ouahbi faces an enormous challenge as he looks to keep up the momentum he built from guiding the Atlas Cubs to the U20 World Cup crown, while taking control of a Moroccan first team that is essentially in a rebuilding phase.

In a span of less than four years, Morocco established themselves as a force in global football, shining at World Cups with both the first team and the U20s, winning the Afcon title, and clinching the bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

A certain standard has been set and Ouahbi has to find a way to, at the very least, maintain it, or, even better, raise it.

He is also expected to bring back Morocco’s attacking brand of football, which they lacked during the Afcon – something that earned Regragui lots of criticism from fans and pundits alike.

There is such depth in talent when it comes to Moroccan players, which is a privilege for any coach; but it can also be a headache.

Ouahbi gave us an idea of the direction he wants to take the team in when he announced the squad list for the March friendlies, which included just six players of the 26 that went to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.