After a brilliant run in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Morocco will look to exploit the momentum gained by the Atlas Lions to undertake future competitions for teams who represent the Kingdom, what’s next for the Moroccan Lions’ pride.
FIFA 2022 Club World Cup :
At the 2022 World Cup Final’s press conference, Gianni Infantino officially announced the Club World Cup will be held in Morocco from the 1st to the 11th of February 2023.
Champions of each continental championship will compete for the Club World Cup. African Champions League winners Wydad Casablanca will look to compete with the best teams from South America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America. Egypt’s Al Ahly will feature in the tournament as runner-ups of the 2021-22 CAF Champions League, since they were finalists alongside the Champions League winner and host representative Wydad Casablanca.
The Atlas Lions squad included four players from Wydad, who will look to use the experience, hunger for glory and confidence they gained to represent their country among the world’s elite.
In 2013, Raja Club Athletic competed in the tournament and went on to win against Mexico’s Monterrey, Brazil’s Atletico Mineiro, only to lose 2-0 to UEFA Champions league winners Bayern Munich in the final. This tournament run sparked major support and acclamations by Moroccans for the remarkable campaign the Moroccan club had.
FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup:
In July 2023, Morocco’s Lionesses will take on a World Cup featuring the best teams all around the world in the most prestigious tournament in Women’s football.
For the Lionesses too, a momentum of success and historical achievements will be key to their contest, since in 2022, in Women’s AFCON, which was held in Morocco, they reached the semi-finals for the first time, first North African and Arab country to reach the final, only to be thwarted by the experienced veterans of South Africa. It’s noteworthy that they are the first Arab country to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
This comes after the Moroccan federation turned their attention to major restructures, rebuilt the women’s national team that has long been in need of improvements. With greater interest, the Lionesses can count on the Moroccan public to rekindle the spark in the hearts of the team to go beyond expectations, similar to their continental campaign and the men colleagues’ national team success in the World Cup.
2023 African Nations Championship:
To say that Morocco will look to make history in this competition would be a stretch, as Morocco’s team, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, are the most decorated and successful in Africa since its start in 2007 with two titles each.
The latest title holders of the Biennial tournament, which only includes players playing in their national league competitions, will look to become the most successful team in the competition with three titles, and they have enough arguments to make it true. Moroccan teams feature some of the best players in Africa. In 2021, The Moroccan Botola Pro was regarded as the strongest league in Africa following the CAF five year Ranking system, which is calculated according to the performance of clubs from various federations.
Besides the continental success, Moroccan supporters, specifically the “Ultras”, the devoted fan community of their respective club, are highly regarded and recognised in the world. This tournament gives enough incentive for the passionate to represent their country’s clubs, which play a key role, as the 12th man can play a big role in shifting the tides in their team’s favor.
Originally scheduled from 10 July to 1 August 2022, CAF rescheduled the tournament to January 2023 following an announcement at an executive committee meeting held on 10 September 2020 via video conferencing
The upcoming games for Morocco will be vs Sudan on January 15th, and vs Madagascar on the 19th of the same month.
2023 Africa Cup of Nations:
The 34th edition of the AFCON will be held in the Ivory Coast, and was postponed from June-July 2023 to January 2024 due to weather concerns in the country. The competition features all African countries as they compete for spots in the group stage.
Morocco won the tournament once in its history in 1976, and will look to win the tournament after the successes of the World Cup, becoming the first African country in FIFA rankings (11th).
To this day, Egypt is the most decorated African country with seven AFCON titles, the current champions being Senegal look to be Morocco’s direct rival for the trophy.
Morocco won its two games played in the group stage vs South Africa and Liberia, and will seek to repeat the results in South Africa and at home against Liberia to secure a first spot for the Knockout stages.
Morocco Head Coach Walid Regragui will have to respond to years of failure and frustration from the Moroccan fans who longed for continental success since the upset loss he was part of as a player in the 2004 AFCON final against Tunisia (2-1).
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