Morocco national futsal team

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Morocco
Nickname(s)Lions of the Atlas
اسود الاطلس
Irzem 'n Atlas
AssociationRoyal Moroccan Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Head coachMorocco Hicham Dguig
Home stadiumSalle Mohammed V
FIFA codeMAR
FIFA ranking6th (June 2024)
Highest FIFA ranking6th (June 2024)
Lowest FIFA ranking6th (June 2024)
Home colours
Away colours
First international
 Belarus 4–1 Morocco 
(Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; February 11, 1995) [1]
Biggest win
 Morocco 16–0  Somalia
(Dammam, Saudi Arabia; June 21, 2022)
Biggest defeat
 Egypt 7–0 Morocco 
(Cairo, Egypt; July 31, 2004)[2]
FIFA World Cup
Appearances4 (First in 2012)
Best resultQuarter finals (2021, 2024)
Africa Futsal Cup of Nations
Appearances6 (First in 2000)
Best resultGold Champions (2016, 2020, 2024)
Arab Futsal Cup
Appearances6 (First in 1998)
Best result Champions (2021, 2022, 2023)

The Morocco national futsal team, nicknamed Ousoud Al Atlas (Lions of the Atlas), represents Morocco in international futsal competitions. It is affiliated to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and is one of the strongest teams in the world.

The team has notably won 3 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations and 3 Arab Futsal Cup titles. They qualified for the World Cup four times, first appearing in 2012. Their best World Cup run was in 2021 and 2024, when they reached the quarter-finals.[3]

History

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Morocco were runners-up in both the 1998 Arab Futsal Championship and the 2000 African Futsal Championship[4] and finished in third place in the 2008 African Futsal Championship.[5]

At the 2010 UNAF tournament in Libya, the Moroccan national team recorded comprehensive wins against Algeria 7-2, and Palestine 7-1, and a 4-4 draw against Tunisia. However, they lost against Libya 4-3 in the final and finished as runners-up.[6]

That same year, the Moroccan team also competed in the Mediterranean Futsal Cup which also took place in Libya. After finishing second in their group with 4 points, the Atlas Lions fell to a 1-5 defeat against the eventual champions Croatia. The Moroccans would bounce back in the placement play-offs, where they defeated both Bosnia and Herzegovina 5-3 and Lebanon 6-2 to claim fifth place. Hicham Dguig won the best coach award while the player Yahya Baya featured in the team of the tournament.

On 24 April 2016, Morocco won its first ever African title after defeating Egypt 3-2 in the final.[7] Four years later, they successfully defended their title on home soil with a 5-0 win against the Pharaohs in the final.[8][9]

On 29 May 2021, They won their first Arab cup title after defeating hosts Egypt 4-0 in the final.[10] In the 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup, Morocco qualified to the knockout stages for the first time after finishing second in the group stage with 5 points following a 6-0 win against Solomon Islands and two draws against both Thailand and the eventual champions Portugal.[11] They were knocked out in the quarter-finals after narrowly losing 1-0 to Brazil.[12][13] The following year, they claimed their second Arab cup title after defeating Iraq 3-0.[14][15] On 5 September 2022, they were ranked 8th in the Futsal world ranking ahead of Italy and behind Kazakhstan.[16]

In September 2022, Morocco took part in the Continental Futsal Championship, a yearly friendly tournament hosted by Thailand. After a 2-2 draw against the hosts and a 4-2 win against fellow African side Mozambique in the first round, Morocco edged past Finland 4-1 in the semi-final. In the final, the Atlas Lions defeated Iran 4-3 to win their first title.[17][18][19]

On 16 June 2023, Morocco defeated Kuwait 7-1 in the final, to win its third Arab cup title, becoming the outright most successful team in the competition in the process.[20]

Morocco qualified for the 2024 Futsal Africa Cup of Nations with the country later being awarded the hosting rights of the tournament for the second consecutive time following the withdrawal of Mozambique.[21] After topping their group with ease, with notably a 13-0 thrashing of Zambia in their last group game (their opponent's all-time worst defeat to date).[22] The hosts lifted the trophy for the third time in a row after beating Angola 5-1 in the final, thus tying with Egypt as the most successful teams in the competition.[23][24]

Competitive record

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FIFA Futsal World Cup

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FIFA Futsal World Cup record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Netherlands 1989 Did not enter
British Hong Kong 1992
Spain 1996
Guatemala 2000 Did not qualify
Chinese Taipei 2004
Brazil 2008
2012 Group stage 3 0 0 3 5 15 −10
Colombia 2016 3 0 0 3 6 14 −8
Lithuania 2021 Quarter-finals 5 2 2 1 13 7 +6
Uzbekistan 2024 5 3 0 2 16 15 +1
Total 4/10 16 5 2 9 40 51 −11

Futsal Confederations Cup

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Futsal Confederations Cup record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Libya 2009 Did not enter
Brazil 2013
Kuwait 2014
Total 0/3 - - - - - -

Africa Futsal Cup of Nations

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Africa Futsal Cup of Nations record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Egypt 1996 Did not enter
Egypt 2000 Runners-up 3 1 1 1 24 12 +12
2004 Semi-Finals 2 0 0 2 3 11 −8
Libya 2008 Third place 6 4 0 2 20 11 +9
Burkina Faso 2011 Cancelled
South Africa 2016 Champions 5 4 0 1 17 10 +7
Morocco 2020 Champions 5 5 0 0 23 1 +22
Morocco 2024 Champions 5 5 0 0 37 6 +31
Total 6/7 25 19 1 5 124 51 +73

Arab Futsal Cup

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Arab Futsal Cup record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Egypt 1998 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 30 19 +11
Egypt 2005 Runners-up 5 4 0 1 30 15 +15
Libya 2007 Fourth Place 5 2 0 3 12 18 −6
Egypt 2008 Did not participate
Egypt 2021 Champions 5 5 0 0 26 2 +24
Saudi Arabia 2022 Champions 6 6 0 0 46 6 +40
Saudi Arabia 2023 Champions 6 6 0 0 32 6 +26
Total 6/7 38 27 0 5 176 66 +110

North African Futsal Tournament

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North African Futsal Tournament record
Year Round Pld W D L GS GA DIF
Libya 2005 Runners-up 4 2 0 2 23 8 +15
Tunisia 2009 Did not participate
Libya 2010 Runners-up 4 3 0 1 21 5 +16
Total 2/3 8 5 0 3 44 13 +31

Record by opponent

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The following table shows Morocco's head-to-head record in the FIFA Futsal World Cup.

FIFA Futsal World Cup matches (by team)
Opponent Pld W D L GF GA GD
 Azerbaijan 1 0 0 1 0 5 –5
 Brazil 2 0 0 2 1 4 –3
 Iran 3 1 0 2 8 10 –2
 Panama 2 1 0 1 9 11 –2
 Portugal 2 0 1 1 4 7 –3
 Solomon Islands 1 1 0 0 6 0 +6
 Spain 2 0 0 2 4 9 –5
 Tajikistan 1 1 0 0 4 2 +2
 Thailand 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
 Venezuela 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1
Total 16 5 2 9 40 51 –11

World ranking

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FIFA published the Futsal World Ranking for the first time in May 2024.[25][26]

Africa World Country Points
1 6  Morocco 1430.55
2 37  Egypt 1098.56
3 47  Angola 1054.42
4 50  Libya 1046.24
5 51  South Africa 1041.84
6 62  Equatorial Guinea 999.11
7 76  Ivory Coast 974.01
8 90  Zambia 954.34
As of September 2024

Players

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Current squad

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The following players were called up to the squad for the 2023 Arab Futsal Cup.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 1GK Abdelkrim Anbia (1989-04-08) 8 April 1989 (age 35) Morocco ASF Agadir
12 1GK Reda Khiyari (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 (age 34) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
4 2DF Youssef Jouad (1999-12-30) 30 December 1999 (age 24) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
5 2DF Anas Taybi (1996-03-25) 25 March 1996 (age 28) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
6 2DF Soufiane Borite (1992-12-11) 11 December 1992 (age 31) Finland FC Kemi
17 2DF Othmane El-Idrissi (1999-08-07) 7 August 1999 (age 25) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir
3 4FW Anás El-Ayyane (1992-10-30) 30 October 1992 (age 32) Spain Ribera Navarra FS
7 4FW Ismail Amazal (1996-10-10) 10 October 1996 (age 28) Morocco ASF Agadir
8 4FW Saad Knia (captain) (1987-09-06) 6 September 1987 (age 37) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
9 4FW Otmane Boumezou (1992-07-08) 8 July 1992 (age 32) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
10 4FW Soufian Charraoui (1996-11-15) 15 November 1996 (age 27) France Mouvaux Lille MF
11 4FW Mohamed Kamal (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 (age 23) Morocco Club Feth Settat
13 4FW Hamza Maimón (1991-07-11) 11 July 1991 (age 33) Spain Levante UD
14 4FW Idriss Raiss El-Fenni (1996-05-09) 9 May 1996 (age 28) Morocco SCC Mohammédia
15 4FW Khalid Bouzid (1998-04-20) 20 April 1998 (age 26) Spain Industrias Santa Coloma
16 4FW Anas Dahani (1999-12-14) 14 December 1999 (age 24) Morocco SCC Mohammédia

Recent call-ups

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The following players have also been called up to the squad within the last 12 months.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Mohammed Cheridou (1999-09-20) 20 September 1999 (age 25) Morocco Oussoud Khabazat v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Yassin Salhi (1999-10-01) 1 October 1999 (age 25) Morocco AS Martil v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Bilal Bakkali (1993-02-24) 24 February 1993 (age 31) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
DF Achraf Saoud (1990-06-21) 21 June 1990 (age 34) Morocco SCC Mohammédia v.  Latvia, 22 December 2022
FW Anas Bakkali (1998-09-05) 5 September 1998 (age 26) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
FW Soufiane El-Mesrar (1990-06-05) 5 June 1990 (age 34) France Étoile Lavalloise MFC v.  France, 18 April 2023
FW Saadallah Hajibi (2001-11-06) 6 November 2001 (age 22) Morocco Oussoud Khabazat v.  Japan, 14 April 2023
FW Anass Nasser (1996-01-10) 10 January 1996 (age 28) Finland FC Kemi v.  Iraq, 2 March 2023
FW Khalid Kouri (1993-11-20) 20 November 1993 (age 30) Morocco CL Ksar El-Kebir v.  Iraq, 2 March 2023
FW Youssef El-Mazray (1987-07-01) 1 July 1987 (age 37) Morocco SCC Mohammédia v.  Latvia, 22 December 2022

COV Player withdrew from the squad due to contracting COVID-19.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
RET Retired from international futsal.

Previous squads

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Honours

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Official competitions

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Africa Futsal Cup of Nations

Arab Futsal Cup

UEFS Futsal Men's Championship

Friendly Tournaments

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CFA International Futsal Tournament

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2019[27]

Futsal Week Winter Cup

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2020[28]

Continental Futsal Championship

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2022[29]

Rabat International Futsal Tournament

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2023[30]

Croatia International Futsal Tournament

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2023[31]

Vietnam International Futsal Tournament (Ho Chi Minh City)

  • 1st place, gold medalist(s) Champions: 2024[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Group C: Morocco (Fifa Futsal World Cup)".
  2. ^ "Group C: Morocco (Fifa Futsal World Cup)".
  3. ^ "African futsal kings: We have the quality for the next stage of the World Cup". futsalfeed.com. March 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  4. ^ "African Futsal Championship Overview". RSSSF. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  5. ^ "African Futsal Championship Overview". RSSSF. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  6. ^ "goalzz.com: Live sports scores, news and more". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  7. ^ Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Octet hunt for Futsal crown in Morocco | Total Futsal Africa Cup of Nations". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "2020 Africa Futsal Cup of Nations Highlights: Morocco 5-0 Egypt (FT)". beIN SPORTS USA. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  9. ^ "Futsal 2020: Morocco Wins African Cup of Nations – The North Africa Post". Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  10. ^ Soliman, Seif (May 29, 2021). "Morocco win first Arab Futsal Cup after thrashing Egypt". KingFut. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  11. ^ "Morocco qualifies for the quarter-finals of the Futsal World Cup after defeating Venezuela (3-2)". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 22, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  12. ^ Haskouri, Khouloud. "Brazil Ends Morocco's Impressive, Historic Participation in 2021 Futsal World Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  13. ^ "Morocco's Futsal World Cup journey comes to end after quarter final defeat". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 26, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  14. ^ "Arab Futsal Cup: Morocco's Atlas Lions retain their regional title – The North Africa Post". Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  15. ^ "Morocco crowned champion of Arab Futsal". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. June 28, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  16. ^ "Morocco ranks among top 10 countries in futsal world ranking". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 5, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  17. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "Morocco Beats Iran, Wins 2022 Continental Futsal Championship". Morocco World News.
  18. ^ "Morocco's futsal team crowned victory title, defeating Iran 4-3". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. September 16, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  19. ^ https://www.flashscore.com/futsal/world/continental-championship-2022/results/
  20. ^ Sahnouni, Mariya. "Morocco Defeats Kuwait 7-1 to Win Its Third Arab Futsal Cup". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  21. ^ "Morocco wins the organization of the African Futsal Cup". Hespress - هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  22. ^ "Clinical Atlas Lions put Zambia to the sword, Angola thrash Ghana to secure semis berth". Clinical Atlas Lions put Zambia to the sword, Angola thrash Ghana to secure semis berth. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  23. ^ "Morocco ease past Angola to clinch record-equalling third Futsal AFCON title". Morocco ease past Angola to clinch record-equalling third Futsal AFCON title. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  24. ^ "Morocco's futsal team opens Africa Cup with victory over Angola". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. April 11, 2024. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
  25. ^ https://inside.fifa.com/en/fifa-rankings/futsal-world-ranking
  26. ^ "Brazil boss maiden FIFA Futsal Men's World Ranking". www.fifa.com. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  27. ^ "CFA International Futsal Tournament 2019 :: Final Phase:: playmakerstats.com". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  28. ^ Idrissi, Khaoula (March 7, 2020). "Futsal: Morocco Wins an International Tournament in Croatia". Maroc Local et Nouvelles du Monde | Nouvelles juives du Maroc, dernières nouvelles | מרוקו ג׳וייש טיימס, חדשות מרוקו והעולם | Morocco News | أخبار المغرب. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
  29. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "Morocco Beats Iran, Wins 2022 Continental Futsal Championship". Morocco World News.
  30. ^ https://m.kooora.com/?n=1232898
  31. ^ https://www.achkayen.com/492300/.html
  32. ^ "International friendly futsal tournament 2024: Morocco wins the title". March 31, 2024.
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