Six previous World Cups (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022); 2026 is their 7th and their first on home-continent-adjacent North American soil
Stuttgart's silky 21-year-old playmaker (b. 2004) — the creative heir to the Ziyech role, threading the passes the Atlas Lions used to lack. One to set an alarm for.
Sixteen years marshalling the Moroccan defence; a record Achraf Hakimi is closing in on
Africa's 1975 Footballer of the Year and captain of the 1976 title side — a record that has stood for over four decades
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Mohamed Ouahbi (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Faras #11 | FW | 1966–1979 | 94 | 36 | The record scorer and 1976 captain — Morocco's first true icon, and African Footballer of the Year in 1975. |
| Noureddine Naybet #5 | CB | 1990–2006 | 115 | 4 | Record caps. A Champions League winner with Porto and the wall behind two World Cup campaigns. |
| Mohamed Timoumi #10 | AM | 1979–1989 | 67 | 10 | African Footballer of the Year 1985; the elegant brain of the celebrated 1986 side. |
| Badou Zaki #1 | GK | 1979–1992 | 77 | 0 | Africa's 1986 Footballer of the Year — a goalkeeper, no less — who barely conceded as Morocco topped a group with England in it. |
| Salaheddine Bassir #9 | FW | 1994–2002 | 59 | 27 | Scored twice in the 3–0 demolition of Scotland at France '98 — Morocco's cruellest near-miss. |
| Mustapha Hadji #7 | AM | 1992–2002 | 64 | 12 | African Footballer of the Year 1998; a flowing-haired playmaker who made France '98 his stage. |
| Noureddine Bouyahyaoui #9 | FW | 1986–1986 | 12 | 5 | Briefly the spark of '86 — the generation that first dragged Morocco into a World Cup knockout round. |
| Hakim Ziyech #7 | RW | 2015–2023 | 51 | 25 | The left-footed conductor of the 2022 miracle run; a Champions League winner with Chelsea. |
| Mehdi Benatia #4 | CB | 2008–2018 | 58 | 5 | Bayern and Juventus centre-half; the captain who carried Morocco back to the World Cup in 2018. |
| Abdelmajid Dolmy #6 | MF | 1977–1989 | 76 | 2 | A one-club, one-country servant — the metronome in midfield across a dozen years and two World Cups. |
For half a century Morocco were African football's great nearly-men — the 1976 champions, the 1986 pioneers, the 1998 heartbreak. Then Qatar 2022 happened, and a back line built like a vault carried them to a semi-final no African side had ever reached. They arrive in 2026 not as plucky outsiders but as a continental heavyweight with a wonderkid in every position. The Almanac is paying close attention.