Walid Regragui, the coach of the Atlas Lions, revealed this Thursday his selection of 27 players for the two upcoming clashes against Niger and Zambia. These meetings, crucial for the qualifications for the 2026 World Cup, will be an opportunity to discover new faces and celebrate the return of certain executives.
While Morocco sits as undisputed master at the top of its qualifying group, fans’ expectations were high regarding this list. They will not be disappointed. The big news is Neil El Aynaoui. The AS Roma midfielder, who trained in U23, will finally be able to honor his first selection after several call-ups without a debut.
The Moroccan technician has also set his sights on two revelations from the recent CHAN 2025. Goalkeeper El Mehdi Al Harrar (Raja Casablanca), currently in the race for the final with his teammates, thus receives his first chance in A, just like his teammate Youssef Belammari, already a regular in Regragui’s lists.
The Morocco group: Position: 1st in Group E Points: 15 out of 15 possible (5 wins in 5 matches)
Pursuers: Tanzania (9 pts), Zambia and Niger (6 pts each). well
As for returns, Walid Regragui has some nice surprises in store. Left back Souffian El Karouani (Utrecht), absent since the Halilhodzic era in 2022 and recently author of a hat-trick of assists, is making his comeback. He is accompanied by Ilias Akhomach, who overcame a serious injury.
The list also confirms the expected presence of executives like Bounou, Hakimi, Amrabat, Brahim Diaz, or En-Nesyri. Azzeddine Ounahi is also on the trip, despite a complicated situation at Olympique de Marseille. The hopefuls Hamza Igamane, leaving for Lille according to Regragui himself, and Maroan Sannadi, are continuing their integration.
Notable absences
The team will however have to deal with several important absences. Key players like Noussair Mazraoui and formidable scorer Soufiane Rahimi are out due to injury. They are accompanied on the sidelines by Ez Abde, Abdel Abqar and Adam Aznou.
Finally, the qualitative density of the Moroccan squad is confirmed by the difficult choices of the coach. Players like Zakaria El Ouahdi, Bilal Nadir or Amir Richardson, among others, were not selected this time, victims of increasingly fierce competition.
AZ-EDDINE AALLABOUCH
