World Cup semi-finalist, subsequent Africa Cup winner, World Cup host in 2030 – Morocco’s soccer is en vogue. The association’s focus also includes scouting players from the diaspora.
Morocco has big plans for world soccer. “We don’t want to wait until the 2030 World Cup to become world champions, Morocco will try in 2026,” announced Mohamed Ouahbi, who led Morocco to the U-20 World Cup title and has now taken over from Walid Regragui as coach of the senior national team.
The North Africans’ recent successes are anything but a coincidence. Morocco has put together a long-term plan for this, investing heavily since 2009 and making many structural changes: The centerpiece is the Mohammed VI Royal Football Academy, through which Youssef En-Nesyri, Nayef Aguerd, Azzedine Ounahi and Yassir Zabiri, among others, have passed.
The tactical orientation also includes keeping an eye on the diaspora, i.e. identifying talents with Moroccan roots abroad at an earlier stage and also contacting them in order to create a bond. The best example of this is Spanish-born PSG player Achraf Hakimi, who played for the Moroccan national youth teams at the age of 16, or Sofyan Amrabat from Real Betis.
Sextet moves to Morocco
The consistency of Morocco’s approach has recently become abundantly clear – six players have switched associations in the past 13 days. Rayane Bounida (20, Ajax Amsterdam) and Saif Eddien Lazar (19, Jong Genk) will no longer be playing for Belgium’s junior national teams, while Benjamin Khaderi (18), Sami Bouhoudane (18, both Jong PSV), Ayoub Ouarghi (18, Feyenoord Rotterdam) and Oualid Agougil (20, FC Utrecht) will be playing for Morocco instead of the Netherlands. Bounida has already been named for the senior national team for the World Cup test matches against Ecuador on Friday (9.15pm) and Paraguay on Tuesday (8pm).
More well-known players could soon follow. For example, Ayyoub Bouaddi (OSC Lille), who plays for France’s U21s and is considering whether he should play for Morocco after all. Or Real newcomer Thiago Pitarch, who has used the injury problems at the Whites to play his way into the limelight. The 18-year-old was born in Fuenlabrada, Spain, and is currently playing for the Seleccion U19s, although one of his grandmothers is Moroccan.
After all, the 2024 European champions are teeming with top-class midfielders, so Pitarch may have a better chance of winning major national team titles with Morocco – especially as the country is also co-hosting the 2030 World Cup. Brahim Diaz and Munir El Haddadi, both born in Spain, have already shown him how.