AFCON 2021: Morocco – Team guide, key players and full fixtures

This year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) presents Morocco with yet another opportunity to dispel the unwanted ‘underachiever’ tag which hangs over them. The Atlas Lions have produced some of the continent’s finest performers, but somehow they have struggled to put it all together in tournament football when it has mattered.

Their selection is once more not wanting for quality, even after dropping both Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and Ajax full-back Noussair Mazraoui for being disruptive. A bold decision, but Morocco have done it from a position of strength at least: they qualified for the AFCON only conceding once in six matches and topping their group. Aside from finding Mauritania a uniquely inscrutable puzzle, Vahid Halilhodzic’s side were comfortable.

Their form coming into the competition itself is just as impressive. Even with the benefit of playing all the matches – home and away – on home soil, Morocco were perfect in World Cup qualifying, and finished 2021 without tasting defeat (unless you count the FIFA Arab Cup).

It should come as no surprise then that Morocco are ranked as Africa’s second-best nation by FIFA, and come in at 28th in the world according to December’s ranking.

Morocco have won the AFCON only once, back in 1976 when the tournament was last decided by a group format. That time, they pipped Guinea to the post; 28 years later, they would know the same heartbreak, losing to Tunisia in the final. They also placed third in the 1980 edition. It is a surprisingly underwhelming tale of the tape for a country of Morocco’s standing and resources.

Vahid Halilhodzic was appointed back in 2019 following Morocco’s bizarre elimination from that year’s AFCON. His considerable experience in management – as well as the fact he led neighbouring Algeria to the World Cup in 2010 – means he is well respected and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.

Tactically, Halilhodzic shows himself adaptable, and will often tailor his system to go up against the opponent, all the while keeping the core tenets of play: aggressive attacking play concerned with getting both men and the ball into the final third with immediacy. Whether the shape is a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3, this approach is unlikely to waver.

Naming a 23-year-old full-back as a side’s key player might seem odd, but then not every 23-year-old is Achraf Hakimi. The Paris Saint-Germain player is one of the more aggressive players in his position, and can dominate any full-back put in front of him, before cutting the ball back for the waiting throng in and around the penalty spot.

At the back, Romain Saiss is somehow in the best form of his career at 31, and has forged a mean partnership with Nayef Aguerd that gives little away. Upfront, Ryan Mmaee appears to have usurped Youssef En-Nesyri: the Ferencvaros striker has four goals and four assists in his last five matches, and has more than earned the right.

Angers’ midfielder Azzedine Ounahi could offer Morocco something different in midfield. At the moment, it appears Halilhodzic is pretty wedded to his three in there, but if handed a chance the 21-year-old’s quick changes of direction and matador-like playing style could inject even greater invention and fantasy into Morocco’s midfield play, especially in stationary phases.

Yassine Bounou; Achraf Hakimi, Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saiss, Adam Masina; Sofyan Amrabat, Imran Louza, Aymen Barkok; Ryan Mmaee, Ayoub El Kaabi, Munir El Haddadi.

Morocco are certainly in the frame as far as potential winners go. However, if they win Group C as expected, there is the very real possibility of a gargantuan meeting with Algeria in the Quarter-finals, which might put a cap on their ambitions. This is a team with a great deal of potential, even though tournament inexperience might prove a factor to their detriment.