The Moroccan national football team’s 1–0 win over Tanzania in the AFCON 2025 round of 16 sent the Atlas Lions to the quarterfinals, a stage they last reached in 2021 and exited.
Since the introduction of the quarterfinals in 1992, after the tournament was expanded to 12 teams, Morocco have gone past this stage only once, in 2004.
They were eliminated at the quarterfinals three times, while in other editions they fell in the group stage or, once, in the round of 16 after the tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 2019.
AFCON 1998 – Burkina Faso:
In 1998, Morocco topped their group with 7 points, ahead of Egypt with 6, and moved straight to the quarterfinals, where they were knocked out after losing 2–1 to South Africa.
From 2000 to 2013, in all the editions Morocco participated in, except 2004, featured the Atlas Lions being eliminated in the group stage.
AFCON 2004 – Tunisia:
In 2004, the Atlas Lions topped Group D with 7 points again, advancing straight to the quarterfinals, where they beat Algeria 3–1.
They then defeated Mali 4–0 in the semifinals but finished as runners-up after losing 2–1 to Tunisia, the host nation, in the final.
The other two editions when Morocco fell at the AFCON quarterfinals were in 2017 and 2021.
AFCON 2017 – Gabon:
In the 2017 AFCON, hosted in Gabon, Morocco finished second in their group with 6 points behind DR Congo, advancing to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated after a 1–0 loss to Egypt.
AFCON 2021 – Cameroon:
In the 2021 edition held in Cameroon, the Atlas Lions topped their group and beat Malawi 2–1 in the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated after losing 2–1 to Egypt.
The years Morocco went far in the AFCON, reaching the semifinals or final, were mostly under the old tournament format.
Back then, the competition had fewer teams, and after the group stage, Morocco moved straight to the semifinals, skipping several rounds we see in today’s tournament.
In 1988, when Morocco hosted the tournament, they topped their group but lost to Cameroon in the semifinals.
Morocco were also knocked out in the semifinals in 1986 after losing 1–0 to Egypt, the host nation.
They finished third in the 1980 edition held in Nigeria, but won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1976, when the tournament featured a group stage followed by a final group stage, with the winner decided on points rather than a single final match.
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