World Cup: Morocco, the Atlas Lions, show 2022 was no flash in the pan

The Morocco story can be deemed as, arguably, the most significant one in international football over the last five years. As the Atlas Lions kept their nerves in a shootout to show the door to The Netherlands, a well rounded, heavyweight opponent for a ticket to last 16, it was clear that their semi-final ride in Qatar 2022 was no flash in the pan.

 Just ponder this. Two back-to-back stellar performances in the World Cup with the promise of more in the ongoing one, an African Nations Cup and the FIFA Under-20 World Cup last year are enough testimony of a blueprint of their federation which other African nations are now looking to emulate. Their strategy of tapping into the diaspora talent, strong network of academies have yielded them wonders—making them look perfectly capable hosts for the 2030 edition alongwith Spain and Portugal.

 “Every World Cup is different,” said their star defender Noussair Mazraoui, who played a key role in finishing the 90 minutes at 1-1 against the Orange Army. “What we achieved was four years ago, and at every World Cup you want to show that you are capable of doing something new. So I think we are on the right path as a federation and as a national team. I’m happy, and we will stay humble until the end.

 “We never lost our composure throughout the match, even in the final moments,” he told FIFA.com. “We didn’t panic even when they began to sit back and defend. In the end, there was a brilliant ball from Chemsdine Talbi and Issa Diop equalised with an incredible header.”

It was only in March that Morocco establishment replaced Walid Regragui, their history-maker of a coach in Qatar with Mohammed Ouahbi, the Belgium-born 49-year-old tactician ostensibly as a reward for winning the Youth World Cup in 2025 with the Atlas Cubs. The template of a high pressing game against much decorated opponents, however, continued and Morocco could have possibly caused an upset in the first match itself against Brazil—but for a piece of brilliance from Vinicius jr.   

None of the so called big teams, hence, relish facing Morocco these days. In Qatar, they faced a run of formidable teams from Croatia to Belgium, Spain, Portugal and finally France in the semi-finals. This time, they made a statement of intent against the five-time champions and then wore down Netherlands—with next opponents being Canada in last 16 on 4 July.

 “We will have a difficult match against Canada, definitely,” the Manchester United defender Mazraoui said. “They are in a good moment, they have a great team and they have a lot of quality as players. So it will be another complicated task as we try to achieve something for Morocco again.” The co hosts may have been flying low under the radar but the Africans want to keep their feet on the ground ahead of facing them. 

The Atlas Lions delivered a strong performance, dominating possession in the second half against the Dutch, used to having the ball themselves. They also created several clear chances from the start before eventually prevailing on penalties. Ismael Saibari converted the decisive spot-kick after Yassine Bounou had produced a superb save to deny the Netherlands’ fifth attempt.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Ismael Saibari after scoring the winning penalty. “But I think the most wonderful thing is that we qualified for the next round. Thank you to everyone for their efforts.”