World Cup 2018 Preview - Morocco

Team: Morocco

Manager: Herve Renard – The suave Frenchman is the first coach to ever win the African Cup of Nations with two different countries (Zambia and Ivory Coast). His crisp white shirt will be sure to catch the eye on the sidelines in this World Cup!

Group: B

Other teams in group: Spain, Portugal and Iran

THE SQUAD

The squad contains a large number of players who have played at underage level with Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Belgium but have chosen to represent Morocco at senior level with the country set to make its first appearance at a World Cup finals since France ’98.

The squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Mounir El Kajoui (Numancia, Spain), Yassine Bounou (Girona, Spain), Ahmad Reda Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger).

Defenders: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus, Italy), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers, England), Manuel Da Costa (Basaksehir, Turkey), Badr Benoun (Raja Casablanca), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce, Turkey), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid, Spain), Hamza Mendyl (Lille, France).

Midfielders: M'bark Boussoufa (Al Jazira, UAE), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen, France), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord, Netherlands), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray, Turkey), Faycal Fajr (Getafe, Spain), Amine Harit (Schalke, Germany).

Forwards: Khalid Boutaib (Malatyaspor, Turkey), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli, Germany), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes, Spain), Mehdi Carcela (Standard de Liege, Belgium), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax, Netherlands).

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Morocco did not concede a solitary goal in their qualifying campaign where they went undefeated in a group containing Ivory Coast, Gabon and Mali.

KEY PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Medhi Benatia

Benatia is Morocco’s star man. The former Bayern Munich and Juventus defender is a crucial part of Morocco’s defensive line. The captain also pops up with crucial goals like away to Ivory Coast last November in their 2-0 win that secured qualification.

Hakim Ziyech

The star man for Morocco is Ziyech who is a former Dutch Footballer of the year. He is as much a playmaker for Morocco as he is with his Ajax team. Having turned down the chance to play senior international football with the Netherlands, he gets to go to the World Cup while the Dutch can only watch the tournament on TV. His contribution to Morocco crucially also includes goals where he has chipped in with eight goals across his 17 international appearances.

Amine Harit

The highly rated Harit is just 20-years-old but the Schalke midfielder has made Morocco’s squad having turned down the chance to play for France (having been capped at under 21 level for Les Bleus).

WHERE THEY ARE PLAYING AND STAYING

15 June: Morocco v Iran

20 June: Morocco v Portugal

25 June: Morocco v Spain

Morocco will base themselves in Voronezh during the tournament and will train at the Chaika Stadium.

THREE INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE TEAM

This is the fourth time that Morocco have qualified for the finals. They managed that feat first in 1970 but their last appearance was back during France 1998.

It is 20 years since Morocco last qualified for the World Cup. They first qualified in 1970 and have only managed that feat a further three times. Their best result was to make the last 16 in Mexico in 1986.

Mbark Boussoufa spent three years at Chelsea without making a first team appearance. He also had a spell playing for Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia. He scored in the 2015 Russian Cup final helping Lokomotic Moscow secure the trophy.

THEIR RECENT FORM

Morocco are unbeaten in friendly action this year. The defeated Nigeria (4-0), Serbia (2-1), Uzbekistan (2-0) and Slovakia (2-1) as well as a scoreless draw with Ukraine at the end of May.

First game: Morocco will play Iran in St. Petersburg on 15 June.