Morocco

Pre-independence period

The Moroccan national team was founded in 1928 and played its first game on 22 December of that year against the B team of France, to whom it lost 2–1. This team, formed by the best footballers of the LMFA or the Moroccan Football League (settlers or natives), was active in friendly matches against other North African teams such as those of Algeria and Tunisia. These associations of settler clubs and local footballers, in addition to having their own championship, clashed with each other in a tournament that Morocco won several times, such as in 1948–1949.

The LMFA also faced some club teams such as NK Lokomotiva Zagreb in January 1950, as well as France A and France B. Against France A the LMFA made a 1–1 draw in Casablanca in 1941.

On 9 September 1954, an earthquake struck the Algerian region of Orléansville (now Chlef) and caused the destruction of the city and the death of over 1,400 people. On 7 October 1954, the French Football Association and the Maghreb inhabitants organized a charity match to raise funds for the families of the victims of the catastrophic event. In the match, held at the Parc de Princes in Paris, a team made up of Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians played against the national team of France. Led by star Larbi Benbarek, the Maghreb selection managed to win 3–2, a month before the Toussaint Rouge attacks by the Algerian National Liberation Front which marked the beginning of the Algerian War.

Beginning of Morocco (1955–1963)

In 1955, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation was established, at the end of the French protectorate of Morocco, which had lasted since 1912.

On 19 October 1957, at the 2nd edition of the Arab Games in Lebanon, Morocco made its debut as an independent country against Iraq, at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, and drew 3–3. At the tournament, Morocco took the first win in its history against Libya, winning 5–1, then beat Tunisia 3–1 to reach the semi-finals. After a 1–1 draw with Syria, lots were drawn to decide who would progress to the final, and Syria were selected at Morocco's expense. Morocco withdrew from the third-place play-off against Lebanon and finished fourth overall.

Between 1957 and 1958, Morocco held numerous friendly matches against the National Liberation Front team, the representative of Algeria before its independence in 1958. In 1959, the team took part for the first time in an international competition, the qualifying rounds of the 1960 Rome Olympics. Drawn into a group with Tunisia and Malta, Morocco finished second on goal difference and failed to progress. That same year, the football federation of Morocco joined FIFA.

In 1960, Morocco competed in World Cup qualification for the first time. Drawn against Tunisia in the first round, Morocco won the first leg 2–1, while Tunisia won the second leg 2–1. A play-off held in Palermo, Italy also finished in a tie, so a coin toss was used to determine who progressed. Morocco won the toss, and beat Ghana 1–0 on aggregate to reach the inter-continental play-offs. Drawn against Spain, Morocco lost 4–2 on aggregate and thus failed to qualify.

In 1961, Morocco held the Pan-Arab Games and won the football tournament, winning all five of their matches. Their third match, against Saudi Arabia, resulted in Morocco's biggest-ever victory, winning 13–1. They also claimed their first two wins against a European team, beating East Germany 2–1 and 2–0.

In 1963, the Moroccan team came close to qualifying for the African Cup of Nations. In the decisive play-off against Tunisia, they were defeated 4–1 in Tunis and won 4–2 at home, therefore being eliminated. At the Mediterranean Games in Naples 1963, they finished fourth after a 2–1 defeat in the final for third place against Spain's reserve team.

First appearances in international competitions (1963–1976)

Morocco participated in the final phase of an international competition for the first time at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Having qualified under the leadership of manager Mohamed Massoun, the Moroccans were included in a group of three teams due to the withdrawal of North Korea. Morocco lost both their matches, against Hungary (6–0, the team's worst-ever defeat) and Yugoslavia (3–1, despite taking the lead in the second minute via Ali Bouachra).

In 1966, the Moroccan Football Association joined the Confederation of African Football and was able to participate in the competitions organized by the CAF.

In 1968 and 1969, the team was engaged in qualifying for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Their debut eliminated Senegal (1–0) and Tunisia after a draw. In the final round of the preliminaries, against Sudan and Nigeria, Morocco obtained five points, finishing ahead of Nigeria. Shortly after, Morocco lost the decisive play-off against Algeria to enter the final stage of the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco thus became the first African national team to qualify for the World Cup after having played in an elimination tournament. The Moroccan team, coached by the Yugoslav Blagoje Vidinić, consisted entirely of players in the Moroccan league, including Driss Bamous and Ahmed Faras.

On 3 June 1970, against West Germany, Morocco opened the scoring with a goal in the 21st minute of the game scored by Houmane Jarir. In the second half, however, the Germans scored twice and won 2–1. The Atlas Lions then played against Peru, conceding three goals in ten minutes to lose 3–0. On 11 June 1970, the eliminated Moroccans drew with Bulgaria 1–1. It was the first point obtained by an African national team at the World Cup.

In 1972 Africa Cup of Nations qualification, the Atlas Lions ousted Algeria, then faced Egypt, beating them 3–0 in the first leg and suffering a 3–2 defeat on the way back. Despite this, they qualified for the final phase of the continental tournament for the first time. In the group stage, they accumulated three 1–1 draws against Congo, Sudan and Zaire and were eliminated in the first round. All three Moroccan goals were scored by Ahmed Faras.

Qualifying for the 1972 Olympics with two wins and two draws, Morocco debuted in Group A with a goalless draw against the United States, then lost 3–0 against hosts West Germany and defeated Malaysia 6–0 with a Faras hat-trick, thereby advancing to the second round. Due to defeats against USSR (3–0), Denmark (3–1) and Poland (5–0), they were eliminated from the tournament; finishing bottom of their group. To date, this result remains the best performance of the Atlas Lions at the Olympic football tournament.

In the 1974 World Cup qualifiers, Morocco successfully passed three qualifying rounds before entering the final round alongside Zambia and Zaire. Losing 4–0 away against Zambia, the Moroccans bounced back in the second game, defeating the same opponent 2–0 at home. They then went to Zaire for their third game but lost 3–0, conceding all three goals in the second half, with Faras leaving the field due to injury. Morocco filed an appeal, trying to get the match to be replayed; it was dismissed by FIFA. In protest, Morocco withdrew from the qualifiers causing the Atlas Lions to miss their final game at home against Zaire which had already qualified for the finals, with FIFA awarding Zaire a 2–0 win on walkover. For the same reason, Morocco also decided not to take part in the 1974 African Cup of Nations qualification.

In 1974, Morocco played only two games, both against Algeria, achieving a 2–0 win and a 0–0 draw. Morocco then resumed its regular FIFA and CAF competitions, qualifying for the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations by eliminating Ghana in the last round, but failed to qualify for the 1976 Olympics, being eliminated by Nigeria.

Between successes and defeats (1976–1986)

Morocco, coached by the Romanian Virgil Mărdărescu and captained by Faras, took the continental throne at 1976 African Cup of Nations, in only the country's second participation in the competition. Ahmed Makrouh scored in the final to equalize at 1–1, which gave Morocco the first, and to date, only cup in its history.

After failing to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, they also did not make 1978 and 1982. At the 1978 Africa Cup of Nations, they were eliminated in the first round, while at the 1980 Africa Cup of Nations they finished in third place, beating Egypt 2–0. They then won the 1983 Mediterranean Games, played at home, thanks to a 3–0 win in the final against Turkey B.

Morocco did not qualify for either the 1982 or 1984 Africa Cup of Nations. Two years later, they finished fourth, losing 3–2 in the third-place play-off to Ivory Coast.

Golden generation (1986–2000)

Morocco qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup which took place in Mexico, and surprisingly topped a group with Portugal, England and Poland, thanks to two draws against the English and Polish and a 3–1 win against the Portuguese. However, they were narrowly eliminated by West Germany in the first knockout round, thanks to a goal from Lothar Matthäus one minute from the end of regulation time. Morocco became the first African and Arab national team to advance from the first round of the World Cup.

Two years later, the Moroccan team presented itself at the 1988 African Cup of Nations as a host country with high expectations. After winning in the first round, they were eliminated in the semifinals by Cameroon and finished in fourth place after losing the third-place play-off against Algeria 1–1 after extra time, 4–3 after penalties.

Failure to qualify for the 1990 FIFA World Cup opened a period of crisis. In the 1992 African Cup of Nations, the team was eliminated in the first round. They then did not participate in the 1994 or 1996 African Cup tournaments. They, however, did qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States and the 1998 tournament in France.

At the 1998 Africa Cup of Nations, after winning their group, Morocco were defeated by South Africa 2–1.

Difficult years (2006–2017)

Morocco took part in the 2004 African Cup of Nations, drawn into Group D defeating Nigeria 1–0, defeating Benin 4–0 and drawing 1–1 with South Africa. Morocco qualified to the knockout stages, facing Algeria; they eventually won 3–1 in extra time, and 4–0 against Mali in the semi-final. They lost the 2004 African Cup of Nations Final against Tunisia 2–1.

In 2012, the national team won the Arab Cup, topping their group, defeating Iraq in the semi-final and Libya in the final.

In 2014, Morocco debuted in the African Nations Championship after failing to qualify in the 2009 and 2011 editions. Led by coach Hassan Benabicha, Morocco were eliminated in the second round after losing 4–3 to Nigeria in the quarter-finals. They managed to qualify for the 2016 African Nations Championship, but were eliminated in the group stages. Morocco hosted the 2018 African Nations Championship, which included a victory for the home nation, the third North African country to win the competition's title.

Second golden generation (2017–present)

Morocco returned to the World Cup after a 20-year absence in 2018. The North Africans were drawn in Group B with World Cup favourites Spain, Portugal, and Iran. In their opening game against Iran, Morocco showed full dedication but lost 1–0 in the final minutes of the match, scored by an own goal. In their second game, Morocco faced Portugal but ended losing 1–0 by a goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. In the last match against Spain they took the lead 2–1 but was unable to keep it, and drew 2–2, scored by Khalid Boutaïb and Youssef En-Nesyri.

Morocco entered the 2019 AFCON with high confidence and players claiming them to be the favorite to win. However, in spite of three straight group stage wins, Morocco were shockingly knocked out by Benin in the round of sixteen.

At the 2020 African Nations Championship in Cameroon, Morocco won their second CHAN title, in its second consecutive final appearance. Captained by Ayoub El Kaabi, they defeated Togo (1–0), Rwanda (0–0), the Uganda (5–2), Zambia (3–1), and Cameroon (4–0) on the way to a final against Mali in Yaoundé. Morocco won 2–0, with both goals scored late into the second half by Soufiane Bouftini and Ayoub El Kaabi. Morocco thus became the first team to win back-to-back titles. Soufiane Rahimi went on to be named Total Man of the tournament after an astonishing performance scoring a total of 5 goals.

In December 2021, Morocco started its venture at the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup's Group C, along with Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. Morocco opened the tournament with a 4–0 win against Palestine, Morocco then managed to overcome a highly defensive Jordan with another 4–0 triumph, They won their final match in a 1–0 victory against Saudi Arabia. they were eliminated in the quarter-final after penalty-shootout against Algeria.

After easily topping their 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification group which consisted of Mauritania, Burundi, and Central African Republic, Morocco were one of the favorites to win the 2021 edition of the tournament hosted in Cameroon. Morocco were drawn into group E that included Gabon, Ghana and Comoros. Morocco won its first game against Ghana scored by Sofiane Boufal in the final minutes of the game. In their second game against Comoros, they claimed a 2–0 victory. Their final match against Gabon ended in a draw, making Morocco reach the round of 16 after ending up first in the group. They defeated Malawi 2–1 in the round of 16. They were eliminated in the quarter-final after a 2–1 loss against Egypt.

After qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup by winning the third round of CAF qualifiers, the team was drawn in Group F along with Croatia, Belgium, and Canada. Morocco were not expected to qualify, but after holding previous runners-up Croatia to a 0–0 draw and shocking previous third place Belgium 2–0, a 2–1 win over Canada meant they finished top of the group and advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since 1986. In the round of 16, they met Spain, drawing 0–0. In the subsequent penalty shootout, goalkeeper Yassine Bounou saved two penalties, and Achraf Hakimi scored the decisive penalty with a panenka penalty for Morocco to advance to the quarter-finals for the first time. They advanced further to the semi-finals winning against favourite Portugal, 1–0, with a powerful header by Youssef En-Nesyri. That made Morocco the first African and Arab team to qualify for the semi-finals.

However, they lost to France in the semi-final, 2–0 on 14 December at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, putting an end to Morocco's World Cup run. They played Croatia in the third place play-off on 17 December at the Khalifa International Stadium in Ar-Rayyan, a rematch of the earlier group stage meeting. They lost 2–1 to the latter, and ended their World Cup campaign at fourth place. The team would go on to donate their entire World Cup earnings from the tournament to charities within Morocco that help with poverty that affects children and families in the country by the earthquake.