WC Countdown: USA just a stepping stone for Atlas Lions
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Reading Time: 4min | Tue. 02.06.26. | 12:53
The best national team on the African continent has decided to undergo a generational change — what it will look like remains to be seen
Looking objectively, Morocco national football team, currently the best one in Africa, is about to fail at the upcoming World Cup. It looks like a total contradiction, but let’s look at the facts. The Atlas Lions are in excellent form and have a strong team and a new coach. They are current AFCON champions (after Senegal was stripped off the title in a controversial decision) and eighth-placed team in the latest FIFA rankings. The next placed team is Senegal in 14th place. So, why will they fail in the upcoming World Cup? It’s simply because they had such a great performance at the last one (Qatar 2022) that it’s hard to believe that they can repeat that. After all, being fourth in the world is not something you can easily repeat. Morocco could have easily ended up being third, but lost to Croatia 2-1. Still, they made a historic success with their fourth place and are the only African nation to do so. So, what can we expect from the Atlas Lions then?
First of all, there is always a possibility that they go all the way and really top their performance from 2022, which means finish third, or even win the competition. Anyone can win in football, that’s one of the reasons why this sport is so popular. But in reality, they should qualify for at least Round of 16 and then to the quarterfinals. After all, Morocco have a bigger picture in mind – the 2030 World Cup. So, this year’s FIFA competition will be a stepping stone to the next one, where Atlas Lions will be hosts, along with Portugal and Spain.
The big picture means a long-term vision, set up by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI back in 2008, which lead to first-class football facilities and money invested in progress. Ahead of FIFA 2026 World Cup, Morocco’s success is impressive: AFCON 2025 champions, 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) finalists, 2025 FIFA Arab Cup champions, 2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN) champions, 2025 U-20 FIFA World Cup champions, 2025 U-17 AFCON champions, 2024 Olympic men’s bronze medalists and 2024 Futsal AFCON champions. Morocco did a generation chance ahead of this World Cup, even changed the national team coach and they will use the USA/Mexico/Canada experience to really prepare for 2023.
Mohamed Wahbi is not a typical coach. A school teacher born in Brussels made it to the famous Anderlecht academy where he worked successfully before taking over the youth team. Wahbi guided Morocco’s U-20 team to a historic World Cup title in Chile in 2025, defeating football giants including Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and France in the process. Now he is ready to succeed highly successful Walid Regragui, who stepped down in March. He already made changes, as only four out of 11 starters from the Croatia game in 2022 were invited to the team for this tournament. (Yassine Bounou, Achraf Hakimi, Sofyan Amrabat and Bilal El Khannouss). In fact, only nine players from 2022 were invited to come to the USA in 2026. Wahbi know a lot of current players and he already used friendly matches to put his own stamp on this team. He prefers a 4-2-3-1 formation that can morph into 4-2-2-2 to create a lane of space in front of the captain, Achraf Hakimi, on the right flank.
Main virtues
They are young (with enough veterans with knowledge), and they have quality. This Moroccan team is filled with players who are ‘hungry’ for success and want to replay what King Mohamed VI invested in them. They know each other and are familiar with the tactics. They should be fun to watch.
Star of the team
How about two-time Champions League winner Achraf Hakimi? Or Brahim Diaz, who won 13 major trophies with Real, Milan and Manchester City? Those two players are among the experienced ones and have enough quality to carry this young team, which is not lacking pace, creativity and technique at all.
Key weaknesses
Inexperience. Some of them will have their debut at the World Cup stage and will have to deal with the pressure of players before them, who finished fourth in 2022. That can be a heavy burden and everybody knows that confidence is one of the key parameters for any successful football player. Maybe Morocco 2022 went ‘under the radar’ a bit, but now, everybody knows their qualities and will be well prepared. Points won’t be given.
Predictions
Qualifications to the Round of 16 is a must, and considering the talent of the team, they should advance to the quarterfinals. Depending on their group position, they could end up playing against Netherlands in the Round of 16. Morocco has a strong opponent in their group – Brazil. Looking at other teams (Haiti, Scotland), they should finish at least as second and go to the Round of 16 with ease.
WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE
First round
Thursday, 11.06.
22.00: (1.50) Mexico (4.00) S.Africa (7.25)
Friday, 12. 06.
05.00: (2.70) S.Korea (3.10) Czech R. (2.75)
22.00: (1.85) Canada (3.70) B&H (4.25)
Saturday, 13.06.
04.00: (2.05) USA (3.35) Paraguay (3.80)
22.00: (12.0) Qatar (5.40) Switzerland (1.28)
Sunday, 14.06.
01.00: (1.62) Brazil (3.80) Morocco (5.80)
04.00: (6.80) Haiti (4.45) Scotland (1.47)
07.00: (4.50) Australia (3.50) Turkey (1.83)
20.00: (1.03) Germany (15.0) Curacao (50.0)
02.00: (2.10) Netherlands (3.45) Japan (3.50)
***odds are subject to change***