Passport Soccer

AFCON 2025 Preview: Morocco

Morocco will be hosting the Africa Cup of Nations for the second time in the nations history, with the first being in 1988 when the Atlas Lions finished 4^th. This year expectations will be sky high for the Moroccans after major success at the last World Cup, as well as currently holding an incredible unbeaten run. Morocco haven’t lost a match since January 2024 when they were knocked out of the last Africa Cup of Nations by South Africa. The Atlas Lions have won 19 matches in a row, making it the longest winning streak of any national team in history. Though Morocco automatically qualified as hosts, they did take part in the AFCON qualifiers and went unbeaten. More recently, Morocco also went unbeaten to automatically qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be their 7th appearance.

It feels like nothing short of lifting their second ever Africa Cup of Nations trophy will be seen as a success for the North African nation. Head Coach Walid Regragui’s biggest challenge will be to fit in all the talent at his disposal into a side capable of achieving just that. Morocco will collectively be holding it’s breath in the hopes that star man and captain Achraf Hakimi can recover in time from an ankle injury to take part in the tournament.

Morocco will have incredible support throughout the tournament from some of the most passionate supporters in world football. This tournament will also serve a test run for the country’s ability to host a major international tournament as Morocco is slated to co-host the 2030 World Cup in just a few years, with several of the stadiums being used for this Africa Cup of Nations in contention to host games in 2030. It’s a chance to show off their new state of the art new stadiums, as well as the burgeoning infrastructure in the country. However, protests have taken place in Morocco over the government’s decision to invest in football infrastructure instead of different areas of Moroccan society, like education and health-care. But even with those protests, the sentiment is that if this team gets off to a strong start, the support around the country will be feverish.

Potential Starting XI

Coach

Walid Regragui

Regragui has had a very successful run as head coach of Morocco since taking over in August of 2022. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Regragui became the first ever African head coach to lead a country to the semi-finals.

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Players to Watch

Achraf Hakimi
Age: 27
Position: RB
Caps/Goals: 88/11
Club: Paris Saint-Germain FC (France)

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Recently crowned the 2025 African Footballer of the Year, Achraf Hakimi is Morocco’s star-man and captain. Hakimi is in a race against time to be fit for the tournament after suffering an ankle sprain in a Champions League match for PSG. If Hakimi is available expect him to have a major influence from right-back.

Brahim Díaz
Age: 26
Position: RW/AM
Caps/Goals: 15/8
Club: Real Madrid CF (Spain)

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Brahim Díaz made the switch from Spain to represent Morocco in 2024 and has hit the ground running with the Atlas Lions, with an impressive 8 goals in 15 appearances so far. Díaz was the top goal scorer in all of AFCON 2025 qualifying with 7 goals.