Former Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal has converted all three attempts for The Atlas Lions
(Image credit: Getty)
Morocco have more than enough talent in their ranks to cause trouble for anyone at the World Cup.
As it stands, they’re ranked 22nd in the world, higher than any African nation other than Senegal, who were crowned champions of the continent in January.
Morocco won their group and beat Malawi to make it to the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, where they lost to Egypt in extra time.
A couple of months later, they secured their spot at the World Cup by beating DR Congo 5-2 on aggregate.
This will be Morocco’s sixth appearance at the tournament and they’ll be looking to make it past the group stage for the first time since 1986.
They performed poorly in Russia four years ago, picking up only a single point in their final game against Spain.
Former defender Walid Regragui, who won 45 caps for The Atlas Lions as a player, will be in charge after replacing Vahid Halilhodžić in August.
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This is the third time that the Bosnian manager has been sacked after leading his team to the World Cup, having suffered the same fate with the Ivory Coast and Japan.
Doubts had long surrounded his future given his fraught relationship with Hakim Ziyech, one of Morocco’s star players.
In addition to the Chelsea midfielder, Regragui also has Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi and Sevilla duo Bono and Youssef En-Nesyri to call upon.
Former Southampton winger Sofiane Boufal is a mercurial presence capable of sublime match-winning moments on his day.
With a perfect record from his three attempts, the 29-year-old is likely to be in charge of penalties for Morocco at the World Cup.
They are set to face Canada, Belgium and Croatia in the group stage with the top two teams progressing to the knockout rounds.
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Sean Cole is a freelance journalist. He has written for FourFourTwo, BBC Sport and When Saturday Comes among others. A Birmingham City supporter and staunch Nikola Zigic advocate, he once scored a hat-trick at St. Andrew’s (in a half-time game). He also has far too many football shirts and spends far too much time reading the Wikipedia pages of obscure players.
