Morocco Unmatched After Disappointing AFCON 2023 Campaign

Morocco wrapped up their TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign in emphatic style with a 7-0 win over Lesotho and the 2025 host is one of the favourites to win the 35th edition of the Largest Football competition in Africa.

 

 

Having won the competition once in 1976, Morocco had disappointing campaign in 2019, 2021 and 2023  crashing out in Round of 16 against Benin and South Africa and quarters final against Egypt.

 

But the Atlas Lions is currently the best team on the African continent after winning all matches of AFCON Qualifiers despite qualifying as host.

 

Having conceded just two goals in the entire campaign, Morocco are among the tournament favorites to win the 2025 AFCON.

 

Morocco started their AFCON Qualifiers campaign by beating Gabon 4-1, Lesotho 1-0 and Central Africa 5-0 in the first round of qualifiers before recording  4-0 win against Central Africa 5-1 against Gabon and 7-0 against Lesotho in the second round to asserted their dominance in the 2025 Afcon qualifiers. 

 

Morocco ended the campaign with an incredible +24 goal difference, underlining their dominance.

 

The Atlas Lions finished off their campaign strong and have an impressive tally of 18 points, winning all six of their fixtures in Group B

 

 

This resurgence comes after a disappointing exit in the Round of 16 at AFCON 2023, following a historic fourth-place finish at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Under Walid Regragui, Morocco’s squad has undergone significant transformation, blending core veterans like Romain Saïss and Youssef En-Nesyri with rising stars such as Ibrahim Diaz, Abde Ezzalzouli, and Elias Ben Seghir.

 

With this combination of skills and results, the Atlas Lions seem ready to end their AFCON title drought, having last won the trophy in 1976.





Evelyn Edefe

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