Morocco’s historic run at the 2026 FIFA World Cup may have ended for now following a 2-0 defeat to France in the quarter-finals played Thursday in Boston, but their World Cup dream continues.
The Atlas Lions, the last Arab and African team standing in the global football tournament, played for over an hour by defending in a compact low block, heavily relying on the defensive midfield work of Sofyan Amrabat and a crucial penalty save from goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
However, this defensive wall eventually broke in the 60th minute due to relentless French attacking pressure, enabling both Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé to score for Les Bleus to advance to the semi-finals.
According to sport analysts, Morocco’s players are technically outstanding and very agile, but they generally lack the physical profile to consistently beat France’s defenders in open space or dominate offensive duels.
They bow out after another successful World Cup run, giving them plenty of momentum to build on ahead of co-hosting the tournament in 2030.
Morocco have won four World Cup knockout matches – two in 2022, two in 2026 – which is as many as all other African nations combined.
They impressed in drawing with Brazil in their opening game, before contrasting wins over Scotland and Haiti – the first a hard-fought slog following a goal inside two minutes, the latter a frenetic 4-2 against free-wheeling, already eliminated foes.
In the round of 32, they were the better team against Netherlands but needed a stoppage-time header to avoid elimination. Then against Canada they were eventually comfortable, but it was not a high-quality win to assuage doubters ahead of a possible meeting with France in the last eight.
Commenting their match against France, Morocco Head coach Mohamed Ouahbi said : “We have to admit we faced a very good opponent. We struggled a lot in the first half, and [Yassine] Bounou’s penalty save kept us in the game.”
“We defended better in the second half and were calmer in possession. In the end, it was an individual piece of brilliance from [Kylian] Mbappe. It was a difficult feeling, but we have to keep working. We need more options on the bench when we have injuries, absences and fatigue, but of course we’re disappointed,” he added.