The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations is not North Africa’s tournament. Morocco also failed in the round of 16. But that shouldn’t deter the “Lions of the Atlas” from their goal – the 2030 World Cup.
Walid Regragui was at it again on Tuesday as his team tried to save North Africa’s honor at the 34th Africa Cup of Nations. But nothing came of it. Morocco also had to reach the round of 16. The fourth-placed team in the 2022 World Cup surprisingly lost 0-2 (0-1) to South Africa.
Morocco had actually set out to brave the unusual conditions in the tropical climate of the Ivory Coast. Under the leadership of such experienced players as ex-Dortmunder Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech, who currently plays for Galatasaray, coach Walid Regragui’s team put in an impressively serious and efficient performance in the preliminary round, which actually only allowed one conclusion: who will win the title this time If you want to win the African championship, you have to defeat Morocco. But like its neighboring countries, the 13th place in the world rankings also had to give up early.
Big dreams at Atlas
The 2024 Africa Cup is one thing – but in Morocco they are currently looking at much higher goals. Since it became clear that the North African kingdom will be able to host the 2030 World Cup together with Spain and Portugal, the wildest dreams have blossomed at Atlas. Before that, the kingdom will also host the next Africa Cup of Nations in 2025.
The whole of Africa has been hoping for years that one of their teams could finally be strong enough to win the World Cup. The great stars of the past such as Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Sadio Mané (Senegal) received much praise for their performances on the world stage, but theirs were seriously considered for the World Cup title Teams never.
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Efficient and disciplined
Morocco is expected to do this. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the current squad hardly has any individual stars on whom the team would be dependent. Rather, Morocco comes across as a well-coordinated unit that appears very efficient and disciplined. The team doesn’t play hooray football, but rather limits and concentrates on the necessary things.
Secondly – and this seems even more important looking towards 2030: there is a constant stream of new, talented players who are predicted to have a great future. Elyesse Ben Seghir (18) has Moroccan roots but was trained in Monaco’s youth academy. At just 17, he scored a brace for Monaco’s senior team in a league match against Auxerre. Iliyes Housni (19) is also an attacker, he was trained at Paris St. Germain and would also be eligible to play for Morocco and, like Ben Seghir, still has to decide whether he wants to play for France or Morocco in the future.
Morocco’s team has its sights set on the 20230 World Cup
Talents galore
The decision has already been made for Morocco for the next three: Chadi Riad (20) grew up in Spain, the defensive player learned the game at FC Barcelona’s legendary La Masia youth academy and now plays for Betis Sevilla. Bilal El Khannous (19) trained at KRC Genk in Belgium, right winger Ismail Saibari (23) trained at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
But talent is not only scouted abroad. In recent years, Morocco’s government has invested millions of US dollars in the systematic development of football in its own country. A funding program has been implemented since 2010 that is unique in Africa. At that time, the Mohammed VI Football Academy, a state-of-the-art training center, was opened in Sala Al Jadida, a suburb of Rabat. The best training conditions for 50 young footballers were created at royal expense on an area of 2.5 square kilometers.
Excellent conditions in the academy
The academy’s structure is based on Moroccan cultural heritage. The shape resembles a traditional douar with a central village square surrounded by five buildings. Each building fulfills a specific function: accommodation, education, medical facility and canteen. A school with ten classrooms as well as a language and IT room offers a three-stage program for trainees. The academy’s teaching offerings are supported by the Ministry of Culture.
Embedded in the facility are four stadiums built according to FIFA guidelines, as well as an artificial turf field, a small pitch, four changing rooms and a special training area for goalkeepers. Everything is set up according to the most modern requirements: the medical center consists of a clinic, a practice for physiotherapists and a so-called “balneotherapy pool”. Here, water from hot springs is used for thermal therapy for exhausted athletes.
Youth academies across the country
The first trainees were brought together from the region around Rabat in 2010 and were systematically supported from then on. The site was also used as a permanent campus for training camps for the men’s and women’s national teams. Similar systems were subsequently built in Agadir, Tangier and Saidia by 2015.
The success of these measures cannot be ignored – see World Cup success. But the first successes have also become visible in the junior sector. The 2023 U17 World Cup, which Germany won, already showed that Morocco’s youth work is gradually bearing fruit. The team made it to the quarter-finals, where they narrowly and unfortunately lost to Mali 0-1. Players such as defender Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal and striker Zakaria Ouazane have made a big splash, as has goalkeeper Taha Benrhozil. They will be the focus in the future – 2030 is in sight. Despite the early exit from the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.