Major developments close to the start of the World Cup have changed the game for Morocco, whose group won’t do them any favors in Qatar 🇲🇦
After missing out on four straight World Cups from 2002 to 2014, the Atlas Lions have now qualified for two straight tournaments. For a two-year stretch from 2019 to 2021 that included a significant chunk of World Cup qualifying, Morocco didn’t lose a game. Then, after dropping out in the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, Morocco clinched its place in Qatar with a playoff win over the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But any appearance of stability soon took a hit after manager Vahid Halilhodžić, who had led the team through that unbeaten run and World Cup qualification, was dismissed due to what the Moroccan federation called disagreements about World Cup preparation After Halilhodžić’s firing, which came just three months before the World Cup, the Atlas Lions appointed former Morocco defender Walid Regragui to lead the team in Qatar. Regragui, 47, led Wydad Casablanca to a Moroccan league and African Champions League double last season, but will have his work cut out for him in a tough group on short notice.CoachHakimi, center, and Ziyech, right, will be key to Morocco’s hopes at the World Cup.The 24-year-old is the team’s clear star.
Morocco is the first African nation to advance to the knockout stage at the World Cup, but making the knockouts in Qatar will require a Herculean effort similar to the one in 1986 in Mexico when it shared a group with England, Portugal and Poland. It will be difficult to imagine any coach, let alone one like Regragui without any international experience, to come in and make that happen.
Morocco will rely heavily on its stars, with a strong group of experienced attackers leading the way like Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal, but its midfield is light on top-level talent and will be exposed by the midfield machines of Belgium and Croatia. Meanwhile, outside of the fullback positions, its defense is lacking at center half. Morocco’s best chance at points will come in its final group game against Canada, but it may not matter if it can’t steal points off Belgium and Croatia.
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