First Touch ’26 - Morocco

There is no national team program hotter than Morocco right now. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass dives into how the Atlas Lions went from perennial underdogs to the new center of the soccer universe—a fourth-place finish at Qatar 2022, a women’s team in the World Cup knockouts, Olympic bronze, a U-20 world title, and now a run of hosting almost every major tournament on the calendar. We trace Morocco’s football story from the colonial split between French and Spanish zones and Wydad Casablanca’s landmark 1948 title, through their lone AFCON win in 1976 and decades of World Cup frustration, to the history-making 2022 run that saw them knock out Spain and Portugal, finish fourth, and donate their prize money to charities back home. On the road to 2026, we break down Walid Regragui’s evolution from deep-lying counterattacks to more confident, possession-based play, powered by world-class dual nationals like Achraf Hakimi, Brahim Díaz, Bilal El Khannouss, and rising star Eliesse Ben Seghir. With heavy investment in academies and infrastructure, a fierce club scene led by the Casablanca derby, and a record-breaking winning streak heading into a group with Brazil, Haiti, and Scotland, Morocco arrive not as a one-tournament fairy tale, but as a genuine World Cup contender expecting another deep run.