The Atlas Lion will face Tanzania
Coach Walid Regragui stated on Thursday that Sofiane Diop, a former France under-21 international, was given a maiden call-up from Morocco for the commencement of their 2026 World Cup qualifying quest this month.
The 23-year-old Nice midfielder Diop is qualified for both Morocco and France. Morocco advanced to the World Cup semifinals in Qatar and signed winger Amine Adli from Bayer Leverkusen, another French junior international.
In their opening qualifying match, Morocco is set to play Eritrea on Thursday. Regragui stated that they had not heard anything from FIFA on Eritrea’s potential withdrawal from the preliminary round, despite reports to the contrary.
For their second game, the Atlas Lions will travel to Tanzania on November 21. In their group, they include Zambia, Niger, and the Congo. Only the best team advances directly to the finals in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Regragui summoned a number of players from the Moroccan diaspora living in Europe to help assemble a team that unexpectedly advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, making them the second African nation to do so.
Morocco defeated Belgium, ranked second, and defeated Croatia, the World Cup finalist who suffered a loss in 2018 and advanced to the semifinals the previous year.
After that, Regragui assisted Morocco in eliminating Portugal and Spain in the knockout stages, but his injured squad ultimately lost 2-0 to France. Morocco is going to co-host the 2030 World Cup after uniting with Portugal and Spain.
Morocco squad for November international break
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou, Munir El Kajoui, El Mehdi Benabid.
Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Nayef Aguerd, Ghanem Saïss, Yunis Abdelhamid, Yahya Attiyat Allah, Abdelkabir Abqar, Ayoub El Amloud.
Midfielders: Amir Richardson, Azzeddine Ounahi, Sofyan Amrabat, Bilal El Khannous, Yahyane Jabrane, Ismael Saibari.
Attackers: Tarik Tissoudali, Youssef En-nesyri, Ayoub El Kaabi, Amine Adli, Hakim Ziyech, Amine Harit, Sofiane Diop, Abdessamad Ezzalzouli.
Source: Khel Now
