Morocco World Cup 2026 team guide

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. The plan Four years after reaching the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time, Morocco set sail for North America with ambitions high and a squad with even better pedigree than at Qatar 2022. Sometimes history does repeat itself and Morocco will hope that happens this time. Just as in 2022, the head coach was recently sacked. Mohamed Ouahbi, who won the Under-20 World Cup with Morocco last year, replaced Walid Regragui in March. Quick Guide Morocco: Group C fixtures Show 13 June v Brazil, New York (6pm local, 11pm BST, 14 June 8am AEST) 19 June v Scotland, Boston (6pm local, 11pm BST, 20 June 8am AEST) 24 June v Haiti, Atlanta (6pm local, 11pm BST, 25 June 8am AEST) That switch means the Atlas Lions will not have much time to get used to the coach’s tactics and philosophy. In late March, Morocco drew 1-1 against Ecuador and beat Paraguay 2-1, showing signs of improvement compared with their recent form under Regragui. Ouahbi prefers a 4-2-3-1 formation that can morph into 4-2-2-2 to create a lane of space in front of the captain, Achraf Hakimi, on the right flank. The biggest challenge will be to live up to the expectations. In 2022, they made an unexpectedly deep run. …