Coming into to this tournament Morocco ranked 22nd in the world, expectations for the team were mere with their new coach being appointed little over three months ago.
Regarded as underdogs prior to the competition, they have flipped the coin and proven themselves as more than dark horses. Ranking lowest in the final four with Argentina ranking 3rd, France 4th, and Croatia 12th, Morocco is not afraid of better ranked opposition. Sitting just outside of the top 20, undoubtedly Morocco’s squad have become a threat for any side.
Becoming the first ever African team to make it to this stage of the competition, is an extraordinary achievement alone. However, more impressively the path could not have been more gruesome. At least on paper. Stalemating to Croatia, defeating Belgium, Spain in the Round of 16, and latest Portugal. The Atlas Lions are not a regular at the World Cup either. Only qualifying five times prior to this year’s edition. Morocco only won two of all their games. Beating this tally in itself is remarkable, four wins and a draw as they knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo & Portugal. Morocco is not to be taken lightly. Opponents to Croatia in the group stages, they have followed a similar path both making it to the semi-finals in a defensive weighted way. Croatia featuring in the first semifinal match up, slid out against a brilliant Lionel Messi & Julián Álvarez. Pressure tells, as the Atlas Lions have all to give in keeping their formations to the tee if they are not to be ran over by France’s magic upfront.
Morocco’s compact play and class goal keeping have only conceded a single goal, which by all means was very much an accidental own goal, a cross in deflecting and deceiving the goalkeeper into going the wrong direction. The last man before the Moroccan goal line, Yassine Bounou has been nothing short of remarkable this World Cup. In the group stages he dealt with 10 shots and two on target to come out conceding a single goal to Canada. In the Round of 16, in a 120 plus minute thriller against Spain, 13 shots came at him with a single inbound for the net. Dealing with the 77% possession Spain had, penalties came next where he stepped up and made two out of three saves with the other hitting the post as he punched Morocco a ticket to the Quarterfinals. Things may have been looking bleak for them as their next opponent, Portugal had just come off of a 6-1 demolition of Switzerland, but a resilient Moroccan side had other ideas. Recording another clean sheet, Bounou and his teammates robust 4-1-4-1 setup kept the high scoring Portugal at bay, despite facing 12 shots with 3 on target, it was not enough for Ronaldo’s last hope at World Cup glory alongside his star-studded team. The faith and belief in their coach, shown through their flawless commitment to his tactics has opponents begging to break through the spider web they shall not pass.
Quality of the quantity as their match ups learned. Morocco has let all the teams they have faced have as much of a crack at goal as they would like. Trusting their physicality to keep spaces closed off, the lions relentlessly send opponents in and out the final third scratching their heads. And what happens so often if one team does not take advantage of their opportunity to do so? The other does. All the buildup play around the final third to find yourselves fleeing back as Morocco work their transition. Out of position and giving up what Morocco does not, space. Morocco did just that against Portugal, a team play moving across the field leading to a wonderful cross where Youssef En-Nesyri found himself glancing the ball into the back of the net as Portugal’s goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s jump was only enough for a front row view. The 42nd minute goal became the only decider between the two. 26% possession saw Morocco’s efficient ball movement only have three fewer shots than Portugal both having three on goal. Effective at playing without the ball, the lions come with prowess for whom ever tries to sneak through their lines. 35 clearances, 9 interceptions, and 3 blocks against the Portuguese demonstrates the ferocity they have for the ball when they are being threatened. Crucial all-around fight for the ball, turns into momentous passing in close quarters in their own end to longer rapid passes down the other half to create chances as the other team tries to close the space that has blown wide open. Any set of great defenders can mess up out of position and Walid Regragui and his men aim to keep this success going into their semifinal matchup.
Will Morocco’s space depleting formation, as well as fluid counterattack keep France on their toes? Key defenders Nayef Aguerd, Romain Saïss, Noussair Mazraoui and Achraf Hakimi that make up their first choice back four are either battling through injuries playing or will be out in their do or die against France. Morocco certainly will want to continue playing players back enough to cut off France’s counterattack routes as the speed in Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé threaten their clean sheet tally. 2018 World Cup winners will come knocking, but will Morocco be able to keep the door closed? Find out tomorrow as they go head-to-head for the second finals spot against Argentina!
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