Morocco

National Team Information
Morocco National Football Team History
Beginnings
Morocco’s first match as an independent country was at the 1957 Pan Arab games. The Morocco National Football Team drew 3-3 with Iraq in their first match and made the semifinals of the tournament.
Early on, Morocco almost made the FIFA World Cup but lost an intercontinental playoff to Spain in 1960. The Atlas Lions first won a tournament in 1961 and won all of their matches at the Pan Arab games that year.
The first Morocco FIFA World Cup appearance was in 1970 and they became the first African team to qualify through the traditional route. Egypt was the first African participant in 1934 but as an invitee.
First Africa Cup of Nations Won
In their first World Cup match, Morocco National Football Team opened the scoring versus West Germany but fell 2-1. They lost their next match 3-0 to Peru but drew with Bulgaria 1-1 in the group stage finale. With the draw, Morocco became the first African team to get a point at the World Cup.
Morocco made their first Africa Cup of Nations appearance in 1972 but drew all three of their matches. Four years later, though, Morocco won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, their first major trophy. Ahmed Faras was named the tournament’s best player.
The better part of 10 years was unremarkable for the Atlas Lions, apart from a third-place finish at AFCON, but things changed in 1986. Morocco made the semifinals at AFCON 1986 and became the first African team to win a FIFA World Cup group later that year.
Return to a World Cup After 8 Years
In their first World Cup match, Morocco National Football Team opened the scoring versus West Germany but fell 2-1. They lost their next match 3-0 to Peru but drew with Bulgaria 1-1 in the group stage finale. With the draw, Morocco became the first African team to get a point at the World Cup.
Morocco made their first Africa Cup of Nations appearance in 1972 but drew all three of their matches. Four years later, though, Morocco won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time, their first major trophy. Ahmed Faras was named the tournament’s best player.
Mokhtari: Joint-Top Scorer at the Africa Cup of Nations
In 2004, Morocco went on a run at the Africa Cup of Nations, winning Group B. They beat Algeria 3-1 in extra time in the quarterfinals and scored a huge 4-0 win over Mali in the semis. The Atlas Lions fell to Tunisia 2-1 in the final but Youssef Mokhtari was joint-top scorer at the tournament, with four goals.
Following a twenty-year absence, Morocco returned to the World Cup in 2018 with a new exciting generation of players. The Atlas Lions narrowly lost 1-0 to both Iran and Portugal but managed to draw with Spain 2-2 in the final match.
With a 5-2 aggregate win over DR Congo, Morocco booked their place at Qatar 2022.
Check out the latest FIFA World Cup news and betting analysis.
FIFA World Cup 2022
Entering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, new manager Walid Regragui added star winger Hakim Ziyech back into the national team fold. Still, in a difficult Group F with Belgium, Croatia and Canada, Morocco entered with just +230 odds to advance to the knockout stage. Impressively, Morocco held Croatia to a scoreless draw in their opening match. Then, the Atlas Lions pulled off one of the upsets of the tournament by defeating Belgium 2-0. Morocco’s soccer betting odds to win the group pre-tournament were just +1000, but they entered their final match versus Canada as favorites.
Morocco managed a 2-1 win to advance to the knockout stage for just a second time in team history. Incredibly, the Atlas Lions knocked out Spain in the round of 16 after a scoreless draw. Spain missed all three of their penalty kicks as Morocco coolly converted all of theirs and GK Yassine Bounou came up big. In the quarterfinals vs. Portugal, Morocco were once again underdogs but showed a lot of fight. Youssef En-Nesyri scored his second goal of the tournament to knock out the Portuguese. Morocco incredibly became the first African and/or Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal.Â
The Atlas Lions eventually fell to France, 2-0, but captured the hearts of many around the world. Morocco faced Croatia, once again, in the third-place playoff but the Croatians ended up winning, 2-1. Regragui and the Atlas Lions became national heroes due to their incredible run.Â
- Ahmed Faras – 36 goals
- Salaheddine Bassir – 27 goals
- Abdeljalil Hadda, Hakim Ziyech – 19 goals (tie)
- Hassan Amcharrat, Marouane Chamakh – 18 goals (tie)
Ahmed Faras captained Morocco from 1971-1979 and was a member of their first World Cup team in 1970. Faras, a striker, is Morocco’s all time leading scorer, with 36 goals and was voted the best player at AFCON 1976, which Morocco won.
Noureddine Naybet found success in Spain with Deportivo La Coruna and with the Moroccan national team. He’s the all time-leader in appearances for the Atlas Lions and is the best defender in the nation’s history. He represented Morocco at eight major tournaments.
Hakim Ziyech – One of the most talented players to play for the Morocco national team, Hakim Ziyech is a Champions League winner with Chelsea. Ziyech, who is one of the top-five Morocco national team scorers of all-time, helped the Atlas Lions make the World Cup semifinals in 2022.Â
Yassine Bounou – One of the greatest African goalies of all-time, Yassine Bounou was instrumental in Morocco’s 2022 World Cup run. He came up big in the penalty shootout against Spain and conceded under a goal per game at the tournament. Bounou won the 2020 Europa League with Sevilla and had the best goals-to-games ratio in La Liga in 2021-22.
Achraf Hakimi could very well be considered the best Moroccan player of all time by the time his career is over. The talented right back has already won league titles in France and Italy and the UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid in 2018. The Spanish-born Hakimi played in the 2018 World Cup as a 19-year-old and has already made 50 appearances before turning 24.

Morocco Soccer Leagues & Clubs:
Botola Pro:
The top Moroccan soccer league is called the Botola Pro. The league runs from August to May and follows a double round-robin format, with 16 teams in the league. The Moroccan league is one of the most competitive African leagues and Botola Pro teams have won seven CAF Champions League titles. The bottom two teams at the end of the season are relegated to the second tier.
Botola Pro Clubs 2022-2023
Team |
---|
AS FAR |
Chabab Mohammédia |
Difaâ El Jadidi |
Fath Union Sport |
Hassania Agadir |
IR Tanger |
JS Soualem |
Maghreb de Fès |
Moghreb Tétouan |
Mouloudia Oujda |
Nahdat Berkane |
Olympique Khouribga |
Olympic Safi |
Raja CA |
Union de Touarga |
Wydad AC |
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Morocco Cups & Tournaments
Morocco’s soccer teams participate in the annual Moroccan Throne Cup. This is the top knockout competition in Morocco and it follows a single-elimination format. There are four preliminary rounds followed by the round of 32, where the 16 Botola Pro teams enter. ASFAR have won a record 12 Moroccan Throne Cups.
Morocco Soccer Betting Information
Betting on the Morocco Team
Morocco soccer betting is often done on the Botola Pro. There is a well-defined big three in Moroccan football. Wydad AC have won a record 22 titles, while Raja CA and ASFAR have won 12 each. No other Moroccan side has won more than four Botola Pro titles. Like other African leagues, the Botola Pro is typically a low-scoring league.Â
Following a standard double round-robin format, teams play 30 matches each. There is typically a fair amount of parity in the league. The champions have dropped points on at least ten occasions in each of the last five seasons. Plus, no team has scored two or more goals per game in a single season during that time.Â
There was a decent-sized home-field advantage in the 2021-22 season. Home teams won 41 percent of their matches and road teams won just 25 percent of the time. Plus, 34 percent of matches finished in draws. The most frequent scoreline was 0-0, which happened 16.7 percent of the time, in 2021-22.
The 2022-23 Botola Pro season, alternatively named Botola Pro Inwi due to sponsorship, signifies the 66th iteration of the Premier League and the 12th season following the Moroccan Pro League’s reformatting. The Moroccan Pro League is the highest level of professional football in Morocco since its founding in 1956.
Wydad Casablanca started this season holding the title from the 2021-22 season. The freshly promoted teams from the 2021-22 Botola 2 season, Moghreb Tétouan, and Union de Touarga, also joined the competition.
The season concluded on June 23, 2023, with AS FAR emerging victorious in the Botola Pro following a narrow 2-3 triumph over Ittihad Tanger in the final match. This victory marked the 13th championship win for the AS FAR club, a triumphant return after a fifteen-year gap since their last championship in the 2007-08 season.
Morocco National Team Betting Tips & Odds
Betting tips often suggested Morocco was a dark horse team heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup. They outperformed even the most optimistic expectations by making the semifinals, though. Morocco entered the tournament as +18000 longshots to win the World Cup and were only two wins away. A well-rounded Morocco team was excellent on defense and three starters could return next time around. Noussair Mazraoui, Nayef Aguerd and Achraf Hakimi will all be in their primes by the time the 2026 World Cup rolls around. Meanwhile, star midfielders Azzedine Ounahi and Sofyan Amrabat should also be back. Skillful wingers Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal will be 33 in 2026 but striker Youssef En-Nesyri should certainly still be around.Â
Morocco’s soccer betting could continue to be popular in the coming years. They should undoubtedly be candidates to win the next Africa Cup of Nations in 2024. The Atlas Lions have made the quarterfinals in two of the last three editions of the competition. However, they lost in extra time to Egypt in 2022. As the first Arab and African team to make the semifinals of the World Cup, Morocco shouldn’t be underestimated anymore. Under coach Walid Regragui, Morocco could make deep runs at upcoming tournaments.
Summary
Moroccan soccer is among the best on the African continent. The Botola Pro is certainly an option for bettors looking for a challenge. Meanwhile, betting on the Morocco national team is much more popular, especially after their World Cup performance. The Atlas Lions should be a popular pick in AFCON and could certainly make another World Cup run come 2026.