Meet Moroccan players making history in Qatar

Morocco are one step away from a good place in the World Cup final, with their coach Walid Regragui embracing “crazy” ahead of their semi-final match with defending champions France.

Their success in Qatar and being the first African team to reach this stage, has surprised many, especially after the coach who led the Atlas Lions in the championship was fired in August.

It is said to be one of the worst performing teams in North African football, with their only continental title coming in 1976. Morocco’s 2-0 win over Belgium in their second Group F game was their first World Cup victory since 1998 – and they have failed to qualify for four consecutive competitions.

14 of Morocco’s 26-man squad were born abroad – more than any other team at the tournament – with a mix of players from Europe’s growing immigrant communities helping them make a fresh start.

A key change for the team came just three months before the finals when Vahid Halilhodzic was sacked as coach and replaced by Regragui, who won the domestic league and African Champions League titles with Wydad Casablanca last season.

The changes have helped calm the tension in the squad, with Chelsea’s winger, Hakim Ziyech coming out of international retirement, while the improvement of the players on the field also surprised many.

Morocco have received loud support at the first World Cup held in the Arab world and their fans will be joined by their counterparts who will be flown by Royal Air Maroc Casablanca to Doha on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Estimates of the fluctuating number of Moroccan fans in Qatar range from 20,000 to 40,000.

The players have become heroes amid happy victory celebrations across North Africa, and for the diaspora in Europe, – an example of Achraf Hakimi kissing his mother after the victory and winger Sofiane Boufal playing with his wife on the field after beating Portugal in the quarter-finals.

The team has also shown their Islamic beliefs, bowing in sujud (prostration) in front of their fans after advancing to the knockout round.

But who is in the squad aiming to stun France – former colonial powers from whom Morocco gained independence in 1956 – at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday (19:00 GMT)?

Bono and Maldini of Morocco – Their Defense Line

Defensive strength has been a key factor, having conceded just one goal in eight games under Regragui – an own goal in the win over Canada.

Right-back Hakimi is undoubtedly the star of the squad and is no stranger to Europe’s top clubs, having played for Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan – having already played for all of them at the age of 24.

He has had to tone down his attacking flair somewhat, but the Paris St-Germain star showed his anger and flair with his Panenka-style penalty that completed the last-16 victory over Spain.

Captain Romain Saiss, dubbed the ‘Moroccan Maldini’ by former Wolves coach Bruno Lage, and West Ham’s Nayef Aguerd have been strong at centre-back, but both suffered injury problems against France, Jawad El Yamiq and Badr Benoun can be called to take their place.

The 30-year-old El Yamiq, who now plays for Spain’s Real Valladolid after playing for Italy, was part of Morocco’s squad that won the African Nations Championship, a tournament for domestic players, in 2018 while the 6’3 Benoun was given nicknamed ‘Sultan’ by his Al Ahly teammates before moving from the Egyptian giants to the Qatari club this year.

With Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui ruled out of the quarter-finals through injury, Yahya Attith-Allah – one of three players in the squad from Regragui’s former club Wydad – has come in and looked comfortable despite making his international debut in March.

Once you get past the tightest defense, you’ll have to find a way past Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, a Canadian born known as Bono.

Returning to Russia four years ago, the 31-year-old won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2020 and won the Zamora trophy last season for being the best goalkeeper in Spain’s La Liga.

“When you have one of the best goalkeepers in the world, it gives you confidence, and Yassine gives us that,” said Regragui after his team beat Portugal.

“He helped us a lot and when he’s in the game, we’re definitely unstoppable.”

‘Where is this boy from?’- the eager midfielder

Sofyan Amrabat has been one of the best players to help Morocco qualify for the last four, with his tireless tackling providing a solid wall for Morocco’s defence.

The younger brother of former Watford winger Nordin, who he replaced in one game in the 2018 finals, Dutch-born Sofyan represented the Netherlands at under-15 level and has improved for Fiorentina this season.

Alongside him in midfield is Azzedine Ounahi – one of four players in the squad who come from Mohammed VI College – whose box-to-box play is attracting the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

“My God, where does that young man come from?” asked Spain coach Luis Enrique after being eliminated in the round of 16 on penalties.

“He plays like the Spanish players. He hasn’t stopped running, he must be tired.”

Playing for lower division club Angers in France, the technical but 22-year-old made his international debut in January and scored twice in a World Cup qualifier win over DR Congo two months later and help Morocco qualify.

“The phone is ringing? It’s ringing a lot,” Angers chairman Said Chabane told France’s RMC of Ounahi’s interest in compatriot Boufal, who has also started every match in Qatar.

Meanwhile, playmaker Selim Amallah, once coveted by former Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, has also attracted interest despite not having played a club game since September due to contract tensions with Standard Liege.

Like Giroud for France – He uses power in attack

Youssef En-Nesyri leads the attack line, despite not scoring against Sevilla this season in La Liga, the 25-year-old player has his place in the Moroccan World Cup history books.

His goals against Canada and Portugal have made him his country’s all-time top scorer in those finals with three goals, having also scored goals in the group stage match against Spain in 2018.

“I’ve always believed in Youssef because he gives a lot of energy,” Regragui said.

“Any coach would like him in his team because he works hard for the team, like (Olivier) Giroud of France.”

Ziyech is well-known since his time with Ajax and Chelsea, but Regragui has got the best out of a player whose club game has been mixed.

The 29-year-old player was in the international wilderness between June 2021 and September this year after a public disagreement with coach Halilhodzic, but now his eight appearances in World Cup finals is a joint national record with Hakimi.

Boufal, one of two Moroccan players born in France (Saiss being the other), has returned to his international best at Angers, after scoring just three goals in 70 Premier League appearances in a four-year spell at Southampton that ended in 2020.

He is among the five players of the squad who play in the French league 1, along with Zakaria Aboukhlal (Toulouse), Achraf Dari (Brest), Hakimki and Ounahi.

Hakimi’s intimate knowledge of France star Kylian Mbappe, PSG’s team-mate in Paris, will be key if Morocco can pull off what could arguably be the biggest World Cup upset in its history.

“We are not satisfied with the semi-finals and being the first African team to do so. We want to go further,” Regragui said.