Morocco at the FIFA World Cup

Morocco national team at the 2018 World Cup in Russia

The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every four years since the first tournament in 1930, except in 1942 and 1946, due to World War II.

The tournament consists of two parts, the qualification phase and the final phase (officially called the World Cup Finals). The qualification phase, which currently takes place over the three years preceding the Finals, is used to determine which teams qualify for the Finals. The current format of the Finals involves 48 teams competing for the title, at venues within the host nation (or nations) over a period of about a month. The World Cup final is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, with an estimated 715.1 million people watching the 2006 tournament final.

Morocco has qualified for the final stages of the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, which were in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022 and 2026.[1] Their best performance was in 2022, when they finished in fourth place, thus becoming both the first African and Arab nation to reach a semi-final at a World Cup.[2]

Morocco is set to become the second African nation, the second MENA nation, the first North African and the second Arab nation to host the World Cup when it was granted host status for the 2030 edition alongside the two European countries Portugal and Spain.

Overall record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930Not a FIFA member Not a FIFA member
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962 Did not qualify 7 2 2 3 7 8
England 1966 Withdrew Withdrew
Mexico 1970 Group stage 14th 3 0 1 2 2 6 10 4 4 2 11 7
West Germany 1974Did not qualify 10 4 3 3 12 13
Argentina 1978 2 0 2 0 2 2
Spain 1982 8 3 2 3 5 6
Mexico 1986 Round of 16 11th 4 1 2 1 3 2 8 5 2 1 12 1
Italy 1990 Did not qualify 6 1 3 2 4 5
United States 1994 Group stage 23rd 3 0 0 3 2 5 10 7 2 1 19 4
France 1998 18th 3 1 1 1 5 5 6 5 1 0 14 2
South Korea Japan 2002Did not qualify 10 6 3 1 11 3
Germany 2006 10 5 5 0 17 7
South Africa 2010 10 3 3 4 14 13
Brazil 2014 6 2 3 1 9 8
Russia 2018 Group stage 27th 3 0 1 2 2 4 8 4 3 1 13 1
Qatar 2022Fourth place 4th 7 3 2 2 6 5 8 7 1 0 25 3
Canada Mexico United States 2026 Quarter-finals7th6321106 8 8 0 0 22 2
Morocco Portugal Spain 2030 Qualified as co-hosts Qualified as co-hosts
Saudi Arabia 2034 To be determined To be determined
Total Fourth place 7/23 29 8 9 12 30 33 127 66 39 22 197 85

List of matches

World Cup Round Date Opponent Score Result Morocco scorers Ref.
Mexico 1970 Group 4 3 June 1970  West Germany 1–2 L Jarir [3]
6 June 1970  Peru0–3 L — [4]
11 June 1970  Bulgaria 1–1 D Ghazouani [5]
Mexico 1986 Group F 2 June 1986  Poland 0–0 D — [6]
6 June 1986  England 0–0 D — [7]
11 June 1986  Portugal 3–1 W Khairi (2), Merry [8]
Round of 16 17 June 1986  West Germany 0–1 L — [7]
United States 1994 Group F 19 June 1994  Belgium 0–1 L — [9]
25 June 1994  Saudi Arabia 1–2 L Chaouch [10]
29 June 1994  Netherlands 1–2 L Nader [11]
France 1998 Group A 10 June 1998  Norway 2–2 D Hadji, Hadda [12]
16 June 1998  Brazil 0–3 L — [13]
23 June 1998  Scotland 3–0 W Bassir (2), Hadda [14]
Russia 2018 Group B 15 June 2018  Iran 0–1 L — [15]
20 June 2018  Portugal 0–1 L — [16]
25 June 2018  Spain 2–2 D Boutaïb, En-Nesyri [17]
Qatar 2022 Group F 23 November 2022  Croatia 0–0 D — [18]
27 November 2022  Belgium 2–0 W Saïss, Aboukhlal [19]
1 December 2022  Canada 2–1 W En-Nesyri, Ziyech [20]
Round of 16 6 December 2022  Spain 0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–0 p) D — [21]
Quarter-finals 10 December 2022  Portugal 1–0 W En-Nesyri [22]
Semi-finals 14 December 2022  France 0–2 L — [23]
Match for third place 17 December 2022  Croatia 1–2 L Dari [24]
CanadaUnited StatesMexico 2026 Group C 13 June 2026  Brazil 1–1 D Saibari [25]
19 June 2026  Scotland 1–0 W Saibari [26]
24 June 2026  Haiti 4–2 W Hakimi, Saibari, Rahimi, Yassine [27]
Round of 32 29 June 2026  Netherlands 1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p) D Diop [28]
Round of 16 4 July 2026  Canada 3–0 W Ounahi (2), Rahimi
Quarter-finals 9 July 2026  France 0–2 L —
PortugalSpainMorocco 2030 TBA June 2030 TBA
June 2030 TBA
June 2030 TBA

1970 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  West Germany 3 3 0 0 10 4 +6 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Peru 3 2 0 1 7 5 +2 4
3  Bulgaria 3 0 1 2 5 9 −4 1
3  Morocco 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 1
Source: FIFA
West Germany 2–1 Morocco
 [Report 1]
Attendance: 12,942
Peru 3–0 Morocco
 [Report 2]
Attendance: 13,537
Bulgaria 1–1 Morocco
 [Report 3]
Attendance: 12,299
Referee: Antonio Ribeiro Saldanha (Portugal)

1986 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Morocco 3 1 2 0 3 1 +2 4 Advance to knockout stage
2  England 3 1 1 1 3 1 +2 3
3  Poland 3 1 1 1 1 3 −2 3
4  Portugal 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 2
Source: FIFA
England 0–0 Morocco
[Report 5]
Attendance: 20,200
Portugal 1–3 Morocco
 [Report 6]
Attendance: 28,000

Knockout stage

Round of 16
Morocco 0–1 West Germany
[Report 7]
Attendance: 19,800

1994 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Netherlands 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6[a] Advance to knockout stage
2  Saudi Arabia 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6[a]
3  Belgium 3 2 0 1 2 1 +1 6
4  Morocco 3 0 0 3 2 5 −3 0
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Head-to-head result: Netherlands 2–1 Saudi Arabia.
Belgium 1–0 Morocco
 [Report 8]
Attendance: 61,219
Saudi Arabia 2–1 Morocco
 [Report 9]
Attendance: 76,322
Referee: Philip Don (England)
Morocco 1–2 Netherlands
 [Report 10]
Attendance: 60,578

1998 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Norway 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
3  Morocco 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
4  Scotland 3 0 1 2 2 6 −4 1
Source: FIFA
Morocco 2–2 Norway
 [Report 11]
Attendance: 29,800
Brazil 3–0 Morocco
 [Report 12]
Attendance: 35,500
Scotland 0–3 Morocco
[Report 13]
Attendance: 30,600

2018 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Spain 3 1 2 0 6 5 +1 5 Advance to knockout stage
2  Portugal 3 1 2 0 5 4 +1 5
3  Iran 3 1 1 1 2 2 0 4
4  Morocco 3 0 1 2 2 4 −2 1
Source: FIFA
Morocco 0–1 Iran
[Report 14]
Attendance: 62,548
Portugal 1–0 Morocco
 [Report 15]
Attendance: 78,011
Spain 2–2 Morocco
 [Report 16]
Attendance: 33,973

2022 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Morocco 3 2 1 0 4 1 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Croatia 3 1 2 0 4 1 +3 5
3  Belgium 3 1 1 1 1 2 −1 4
4  Canada 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Morocco 0–0 Croatia
[Report 17]
Attendance: 59,407
Belgium 0–2 Morocco
[Report 18]
Attendance: 43,738
Canada 1–2 Morocco
 [Report 19]
Attendance: 43,102

Knockout stage

Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Morocco 1–0 Portugal
 [Report 21]
Attendance: 44,198
Semi-finals
France 2–0 Morocco
 [Report 22]
Attendance: 68,294
Match for third place
Croatia 2–1 Morocco
 [Report 23]
Attendance: 44,137

2026 FIFA World Cup

Group Stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 3 2 1 0 7 1 +6 7[a] Advance to knockout stage
2  Morocco 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7[a]
3  Scotland 3 1 0 2 1 4 −3 3
4  Haiti 3 0 0 3 2 8 −6 0
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Tied on head-to-head result (Brazil 1–1 Morocco). Overall goal difference was used as the tiebreaker.
Brazil 1–1 Morocco
 [Report 24]
Attendance: 80,663
Scotland 0–1 Morocco
[Report 25]
Attendance: 64,146
Morocco 4–2 Haiti
 [Report 26]
Attendance: 68,239

Knockout stage

Round of 32
Netherlands 1–1 (a.e.t.) Morocco
 [Report 27]
Penalties
 2–3
Attendance: 51,243
Round of 16
Canada 0–3 Morocco
[Report 28]
Attendance: 68,777
Quarter-finals
France 2–0 Morocco
 [Report 29]
Attendance: 63,811

Head-to-head record

Player records

Correct as of 9 July 2026, after the match against France.

Most appearances

Rank Player Matches World Cups
1 Achraf Hakimi162018, 2022 and 2026
2 Azzedine Ounahi132022 and 2026
3 Yassine Bounou122018, 2022 and 2026
4 Sofyan Amrabat112018, 2022 and 2026
Noussair Mazraoui112022 and 2026
6 Hakim Ziyech102018 and 2022
7 Youssef En-Nesyri82018 and 2022
Romain Saïss82018 and 2022
9 Selim Amallah72022
Sofiane Boufal72022
Bilal El Khannouss72022 and 2026

Goalscorers

On 3 June 1970, Houmane Jarir made history by scoring Morocco's first-ever FIFA World Cup goal, coming in the 21st minute of their opening match against West Germany in León.

Player Goals 1970 1986 1994 1998 2018 2022 2026
Youssef En-Nesyri 3 12
Ismael Saibari 3 3
Abderrazak Khairi 2 2
Salaheddine Bassir 2 2
Abdeljalil Hadda 2 2
Azzedine Ounahi 2 2
Soufiane Rahimi 2 2
Houmane Jarir 1 1
Maouhoub Ghazouani 1 1
Abdelkrim Merry 1 1
Mohammed Chaouch 1 1
Hassan Nader 1 1
Mustapha Hadji 1 1
Khalid Boutaïb 1 1
Achraf Dari 1 1
Zakaria Aboukhlal 1 1
Hakim Ziyech 1 1
Abdelhamid Sabiri 1 1
Achraf Hakimi 1 1
Gessime Yassine 1 1
Issa Diop 1 1
Total 30 23252610

Historical performances

The Morocco team had many records during its participations in the world cup.

  • 1970: First African country to draw a match at the World Cup Finals, with 1–1 draw with Bulgaria.[29]
  • 1986: First African and Arab team to reach round of 16.[29]
  • 1986: First African and Arab team to top the group stage.[30]
  • 1998: Youssef Chippo of Morocco. first African to score an own goal at the World Cup, in the 2–2 draw against Norway on 10 June 1998.
  • 2018: Sofyan Amrabat of Morocco, who came on as a substitute for his brother Nordin Amrabat in the 76th minute in the group match against Iran, is the first player in World Cup history to come in for his brother.[31]
  • 2022: First African team to reach 7 points at the group stage.
  • 2022: First Arab nation to advance to the quarter-finals by defeating Spain 3–0 in a penalty shoot-out.[32][33]
  • 2022: Morocco becomes first African and first Arab nation to reach semi-finals following a 1–0 victory over Portugal.[34]
  • 2022: Walid Regragui of Morocco, first African and Arab manager to reach the quarter-finals[35] and the semi-finals.[36]
  • 2022: First African team to play seven matches in one edition.
  • 2022: First African team to achieve fourth place in the tournament.
  • 2026: First African team to reach the quarter-finals twice.
  • 2030: The second African (after South Africa), Arab (after Qatar) and first North African country to host the FIFA World Cup.

Records

  • Most wins by an African nation: 8 wins
  • Most matches played by an African nation: 29 matches
  • Most goals scored by an African nation: 30 goals

Team Records

See also

References

  1. ↑ "World Cup Record". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  2. ↑ Smyth, Rob (17 December 2022). "Croatia 2-1 Morocco: World Cup 2022 third-place playoff – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ↑ "World Cup 1970 finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Peru vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 6, 1970". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Bulgaria vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 11, 1970". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "Morocco vs. Pakistan - Football Match Report - June 2, 1986". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  7. 1 2 "World Cup 1986 finals". RSSSF. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  8. ↑ Kasraoui, Safaa. "Flashbacks to Morocco's 1986 World Cup Historic Win Against Portugal". Morocco World News. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "purtghal vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 19, 1994". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "Saudi Arabia vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 25, 1994". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Morocco vs. Netherlands - Football Match Summary - June 29, 1994". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Morocco vs. Norway - Football Match Summary - June 10, 1998". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "Brazil vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 16, 1998". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  14. ↑ "Craig Brown: Scotland's defeat to Morocco in 1998 was no humiliation". The Guardian. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  15. ↑ Mather, Victor (15 June 2018). "After Morocco Own Goal, Iran Wins World Cup Slugfest". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  16. ↑ "Portugal vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary - June 20, 2018". ESPN. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Spain 2-2 Morocco: Spain top Group B after dramatic turnaround". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  18. ↑ "Luke Modric denied as Croatia are held by Morocco in goalless draw". The Telegraph. 23 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  19. ↑ "Belgium vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary". ESPN. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  20. ↑ "Canada vs. Morocco - Football Match Summary". ESPN. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  21. ↑ "Morocco vs. Spain - Football Match Summary". ESPN. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  22. ↑ "Morocco vs. Portugal - Football Match Summary". ESPN. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  23. ↑ "France 2-0 Morocco: World Cup 2022 semi-final – as it happened". The Guardian. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  24. ↑ Singh •, Sanjesh. "Croatia Beats Morocco 2-1, Wins Third-Place Game of 2022 World Cup". NBC New York. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  25. ↑ El Masaiti, Amira (14 June 2026). "Morocco hold Brazil to 1-1 draw in World Cup opener". Hespress. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  26. ↑ Haskouri, Khouloud (20 June 2026). "Morocco beats Scotland 1-0 to move closer to World Cup knockout stage". Hespress. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Haskouri, Khouloud (25 June 2026). "Morocco beat Haiti 4-2 in breathless last group stage match". Hespress. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  28. ↑ "Netherlands out of World Cup: Morocco notch 90th minute game-tying goal and win penalty shootout". CBS Sports. 30 June 2026. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  29. 1 2 Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Remembering African World Cup records ahead of the draw". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 2022-10-07.
  30. ↑ Sengupta, Somnath (2018-04-22). "How Morocco's 1986 World Cup campaign changed African football forever". These Football Times. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
  31. ↑ "Stats of the Day – 16 June 2018" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  32. ↑ "Morocco stuns Spain on penalty kicks to advance at World Cup". CBC Sports. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  33. ↑ "World Cup: Morocco becomes first Arab country to ever reach quarterfinals". Al Arabiya English. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  34. ↑ "Morocco 1-0 Portugal: World Cup 2022 quarter-final – live reaction". The Guardian. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  35. ↑ "2022 World Cup stats: Ramos joins Eusebio, overtakes Ronaldo on WC debut". ESPN. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  36. ↑ AfricaNews. "Walid Regragui, first African coach to qualify for World Cup quarter-finals". Africa News. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  37. ↑ MASAITI, Amira EL (2026-07-06). "Brahim Díaz reaches four World Cup assists, one behind Olise". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. Retrieved 2026-07-06.

Reports

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  28. ↑
  29. ↑
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