Morocco
Nickname(s)Lions of the Atlas
اسود الاطلس
Irzem n Atlasi
AssociationRoyal Moroccan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Head coachMorocco Hicham Dguig
Home stadiumSalle Mohammed V
FIFA codeMAR
FIFA ranking8 ( June 2023)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
 Belarus 4–1 Morocco 
(Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; February 11, 1995 [1]
Biggest win
 Morocco 16–0 Somalia 
(Dammam, Saudi Arabia; June 21, 2022)
Biggest defeat
 Egypt 7–0 Morocco 
(Cairo, Egypt; July 31, 2004)[2]
World Cup
Appearances3 (First in 2012)
Best resultQuarter finals (2021)
Africa Futsal Cup of Nations
Appearances5 (First in 2000)
Best resultGold Champions (2016, 2020)
Arab Futsal Cup
Appearances5 (First in 1998)
Best result Champions (2021, 2022, 2023)
Confederations Cup
Appearances1 (First in 2022)
Best result Champions (2022)

The Morocco national futsal team, nicknamed Ousoud Al Atlas (Lions of the Atlas), represents Morocco in international futsal competitions. It is affiliated to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and is one of the strongest teams in the world.

The team has notably won 2 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations, 3 Arab Futsal Cup and 1 Futsal Confederations Cup. They qualified for the World Cup three times, first appearing in 2012. Their best World Cup run was in the 2021, when they reached the Quarter-finals.[3]

History

Morocco was the runner-up for the 1998 Arab Futsal Championship and the 2000 African Futsal Championship[4] and ended in the 3rd place in the 2008 African Futsal Championship.[5]

At the 2010 UNAF tournament, the Moroccan national team obtained the 2nd place after winning against the Algeria 7-2, the Palestinian selection 7-1, and Tunisia 4-4. In the final it will lose against Libya 4-3.[6]

The Moroccan team will compete in the Mediterranean Futsal Cup where it will obtained 5th place. National Futsal coach Hicham Dguig will be elected as the best coach of the competition organized in Libya. The player Yahya Baya will appear in the typical team of the tournament won by Croatia.

On 24 April 2016, Morocco won its first ever african title after defeating Egypt 3-2 in the final.[7] 4 years later, they won their second title after defeating Egypt 5-0 in the final.[8][9]

On 29 May 2021, They won their first Arab cup in 2021 after defeating Egypt 4-0 in the final.[10] In the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, Morocco qualified to the knockout stages after finishing second in the group stages winning one match and drawing two.[11] They were knocked out in the Quarter-Finals after losing 1-0 to Brazil.[12][13] They went on to win the next Arab cup edition, claiming their second Arab cup title after defeating Iraq 3-0.[14][15] On 5 September 2022, they were ranked 8th in the Futsal world ranking ahead of Italy and behind Kazakhstan.[16]

On 16 September 2022, Morocco defeated Iran 4-3 in the final, to win its first ever Confederations Cup.[17][18]

On 16 June 2023, Morocco defeated Kuwait 7-1 in the final, to win its third Arab cup.[19]

Competitive record

FIFA Futsal World Cup

FIFA Futsal World Cup record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Netherlands 1989 Did not enter
British Hong Kong 1992
Spain 1996
Guatemala 2000 Did not qualify
Chinese Taipei 2004
Brazil 2008
2012 Group stage 3 0 0 3 5 15 −10
Colombia 2016 Group stage 3 0 0 3 6 14 −8
Lithuania 2021 Quarter finals 5 2 2 1 13 7 +6
Uzbekistan 2024 To be determined
Total 3/9 11 2 2 7 24 36 −12

Futsal Confederations Cup

Futsal Confederations Cup record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Libya 2009 Did not enter
Brazil 2013
Kuwait 2014
Thailand 2021
Thailand 2022 Champions 4 3 1 0 14 8 +8
Total 1/5 4 3 1 0 14 8 +8

Africa Futsal Cup of Nations

Africa Futsal Cup of Nations record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Egypt 1996 Did not enter
Egypt 2000 Runners-up 3 1 1 1 24 12 +12
2004 Semi-Finals 2 0 0 2 3 11 −8
Libya 2008 Third place 6 4 0 2 20 11 +9
Burkina Faso 2011 Cancelled
South Africa 2016 Champions 5 4 0 1 17 10 +7
Morocco 2020 Champions 5 5 0 0 23 1 +22
Morocco 2024 Qualified as host
Total 6/7 20 14 1 5 87 45 +42

Arab Futsal Championship

Arab Futsal Championship record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Egypt 1998 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 30 19 +11
Egypt 2005 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 30 15 +15
Libya 2007 Fourth Place 5 2 0 3 12 18 −6
Egypt 2008 Did not participate
Egypt 2021 Champions 5 5 0 0 26 2 +24
Saudi Arabia 2022 Champions 6 6 0 0 46 6 +40
Saudi Arabia 2023 Champions 6 6 0 0 32 6 +26
Total 6/7 38 27 0 5 176 66 +110

North African Futsal Tournament

North African Futsal Tournament record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Libya 2005 Runners-up 4 2 0 2 23 8 +15
Tunisia 2009 Did not participate
Libya 2010 Runners-up 4 3 0 1 21 5 +16
Total 2/3 8 5 0 3 44 13 +31

World ranking

Rankings are calculated by Futsal World Ranking.[20]

Africa World Country Points
1 8  Morocco 1526
2 39  Egypt 1112
3 41  Libya 1088
4 46  Angola 1031
5 63  Mozambique 902
6 88  South Africa 830
7 92  Zambia 809
8 94  Zimbabwe 803
As of January 2024

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad for the 2023 Arab Futsal Cup.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Abdelkrim Anbia (1989-04-08) 8 April 1989 (age 34) Morocco ASF Agadir
12 1GK Reda Khiyari (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 (age 33) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
4 2DF Youssef Jouad (1999-12-30) 30 December 1999 (age 24) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
5 2DF Anas Taybi (1996-03-25) 25 March 1996 (age 27) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
6 2DF Soufiane Borite (1992-12-11) 11 December 1992 (age 31) Finland FC Kemi
17 2DF Othmane El-Idrissi (1999-08-07) 7 August 1999 (age 24) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
3 4FW Anás El-Ayyane (1992-10-30) 30 October 1992 (age 31) Spain Ribera Navarra FS
7 4FW Ismail Amazal (1996-10-10) 10 October 1996 (age 27) Morocco ASF Agadir
8 4FW Saad Knia (captain) (1987-09-06) 6 September 1987 (age 36) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
9 4FW Otmane Boumezou (1992-07-08) 8 July 1992 (age 31) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
10 4FW Soufian Charraoui (1996-11-15) 15 November 1996 (age 27) France Mouvaux Lille MF
11 4FW Mohamed Kamal (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 (age 22) Morocco Club Feth Settat
13 4FW Hamza Maimón (1991-07-11) 11 July 1991 (age 32) Spain Levante UD
14 4FW Idriss Raiss El-Fenni (1996-05-09) 9 May 1996 (age 27) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
15 4FW Khalid Bouzid (1998-04-20) 20 April 1998 (age 25) Spain Industrias Santa Coloma
16 4FW Anas Dahani (1999-12-14) 14 December 1999 (age 24) Morocco SCC Mohammédia

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Mohammed Cheridou (1999-09-20) 20 September 1999 (age 24) Morocco Oussoud Khabazat v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Yassin Salhi (1999-10-01) 1 October 1999 (age 24) Morocco AS Martil v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Bilal Bakkali (1993-02-24) 24 February 1993 (age 31) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Achraf Saoud (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 (age 33) Morocco SCC Mohammédia v.  Latvia, 22 December 2022
FW Anas Bakkali (1998-09-05) 5 September 1998 (age 25) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
FW Soufiane El-Mesrar (1990-06-05) 5 June 1990 (age 33) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
FW Saadallah Hajibi (2001-11-06) 6 November 2001 (age 22) Morocco Oussoud Khabazat v.  Japan, 14 April 2023
FW Anass Nasser (1996-01-10) 10 January 1996 (age 28) Finland FC Kemi v.  Iraq, 2 March 2023
FW Khalid Kouri (1993-11-20) 20 November 1993 (age 30) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir v.  Iraq, 2 March 2023
FW Youssef El-Mazray (1987-07-01) 1 July 1987 (age 36) Morocco SCC Mohammédia v.  Latvia, 22 December 2022

COV Player withdrew from the squad due to contracting COVID-19.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Retired from international futsal.

Previous squads

Honours

Official competitions

Africa Futsal Cup of Nations

Futsal Confederations Cup

Arab Futsal Cup

North African Futsal Tournament

Friendly Tournament

UEFS Futsal Men's Championship

CFA International Futsal Tournament

Futsal Week Winter Cup

Futsal Week October Cup

See also

References

  1. ^ "Group C: Morocco (Fifa Futsal World Cup)".
  2. ^ "Group C: Morocco (Fifa Futsal World Cup)".
  3. ^ "African futsal kings: We have the quality for the next stage of the World Cup". futsalfeed.com. March 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "African Futsal Championship Overview". RSSSF. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  5. ^ "African Futsal Championship Overview". RSSSF. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  6. ^ "goalzz.com: Live sports scores, news and more". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Octet hunt for Futsal crown in Morocco | Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations Highlights: Morocco 5-0 Egypt (FT)". beIN SPORTS USA. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  9. ^ "Futsal 2020: Morocco Wins African Cup of Nations – The North Africa Post". Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  10. ^ Soliman, Seif (May 29, 2021). "Morocco win first Arab Futsal Cup after thrashing Egypt". KingFut. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  11. ^ "Morocco qualifies for the quarter-finals of the Futsal World Cup after defeating Venezuela (3-2)". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 22, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  12. ^ Haskouri, Khouloud. "Brazil Ends Morocco's Impressive, Historic Participation in 2021 Futsal World Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  13. ^ "Morocco's Futsal World Cup journey comes to end after quarter final defeat". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 26, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  14. ^ "Arab Futsal Cup: Morocco's Atlas Lions retain their regional title – The North Africa Post". Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "Morocco crowned champion of Arab Futsal". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  16. ^ "Morocco ranks among top 10 countries in futsal world ranking". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 5, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  17. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "Morocco Beats Iran, Wins 2022 Continental Futsal Championship". Morocco World News.
  18. ^ "Morocco's futsal team crowned victory title, defeating Iran 4-3". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 16, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  19. ^ Sahnouni, Mariya. "Morocco Defeats Kuwait 7-1 to Win Its Third Arab Futsal Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  20. ^ "Futsal World Ranking". www.futsalworldranking.com. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  21. ^ "CFA International Futsal Tournament 2019 :: Final Phase:: playmakerstats.com". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  22. ^ Idrissi, Khaoula (March 7, 2020). "Futsal: Morocco Wins an International Tournament in Croatia". Maroc Local et Nouvelles du Monde | Nouvelles juives du Maroc, dernières nouvelles | מרוקו ג׳וייש טיימס, חדשות מרוקו והעולם | Morocco News | أخبار المغرب. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  23. ^ "المنتخب المغربي للفوتصال يحرز لقبا بكرواتيا". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.

External links

International futsal
National futsal teams of Africa (CAF)
National futsal teams of Arab World (UAFA)
National sports teams of Morocco
Categories