Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Nickname(s) | Lions of the Atlas اسود الاطلس Irzem 'n Atlas | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | Royal Moroccan Football Federation | ||
Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
Head coach | Hicham Dguig | ||
Home stadium | Salle Mohammed V | ||
FIFA code | MAR | ||
FIFA ranking | 6th (June 2024) | ||
Highest FIFA ranking | 6th (June 2024) | ||
Lowest FIFA ranking | 6th (June 2024) | ||
| |||
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 | |||
Appearances | 4 (First in 2012) | ||
Best result | Quarter finals (2021, 2024) | ||
Africa Futsal Cup of Nations | |||
Appearances | 6 (First in 2000) | ||
Best result | Champions (2016, 2020, 2024) | ||
Arab Futsal Cup | |||
Appearances | 6 (First in 1998) | ||
Best result | Champions (2021, 2022, 2023) |
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]
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]
Futsal Confederations Cup record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | GS | GA | DIF |
2009 | Did not enter | |||||||
2013 | ||||||||
2014 | ||||||||
Total | 0/3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
North African Futsal Tournament record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Pld | W | D | L | GS | GA | DIF |
2005 | Runners-up | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 8 | +15 |
2009 | Did not participate | |||||||
2010 | Runners-up | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 5 | +16 |
Total | 2/3 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 44 | 13 | +31 |
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 |
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 |
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 | GK | Abdelkrim Anbia | 8 April 1989 | ASF Agadir | ||
12 | GK | Reda Khiyari | 21 June 1990 | CL Ksar El-Kebir | ||
4 | DF | Youssef Jouad | 30 December 1999 | SCC Mohammédia | ||
5 | DF | Anas Taybi | 25 March 1996 | CL Ksar El-Kebir | ||
6 | DF | Soufiane Borite | 11 December 1992 | FC Kemi | ||
17 | DF | Othmane El-Idrissi | 7 August 1999 | CL Ksar El-Kebir | ||
3 | FW | Anás El-Ayyane | 30 October 1992 | Ribera Navarra FS | ||
7 | FW | Ismail Amazal | 10 October 1996 | ASF Agadir | ||
8 | FW | Saad Knia (captain) | 6 September 1987 | SCC Mohammédia | ||
9 | FW | Otmane Boumezou | 8 July 1992 | SCC Mohammédia | ||
10 | FW | Soufian Charraoui | 15 November 1996 | Mouvaux Lille MF | ||
11 | FW | Mohamed Kamal | 20 July 2001 | Club Feth Settat | ||
13 | FW | Hamza Maimón | 11 July 1991 | Levante UD | ||
14 | FW | Idriss Raiss El-Fenni | 9 May 1996 | SCC Mohammédia | ||
15 | FW | Khalid Bouzid | 20 April 1998 | Industrias Santa Coloma | ||
16 | FW | Anas Dahani | 14 December 1999 | SCC Mohammédia |
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 | 20 September 1999 | Oussoud Khabazat | v. France, 18 April 2023 | ||
DF | Yassin Salhi | 1 October 1999 | AS Martil | v. France, 18 April 2023 | ||
DF | Bilal Bakkali | 24 February 1993 | Étoile Lavalloise MFC | v. France, 18 April 2023 | ||
DF | Achraf Saoud | 21 June 1990 | SCC Mohammédia | v. Latvia, 22 December 2022 | ||
FW | Anas Bakkali | 5 September 1998 | Étoile Lavalloise MFC | v. France, 18 April 2023 | ||
FW | Soufiane El-Mesrar | 5 June 1990 | Étoile Lavalloise MFC | v. France, 18 April 2023 | ||
FW | Saadallah Hajibi | 6 November 2001 | Oussoud Khabazat | v. Japan, 14 April 2023 | ||
FW | Anass Nasser | 10 January 1996 | FC Kemi | v. Iraq, 2 March 2023 | ||
FW | Khalid Kouri | 20 November 1993 | CL Ksar El-Kebir | v. Iraq, 2 March 2023 | ||
FW | Youssef El-Mazray | 1 July 1987 | SCC Mohammédia | v. Latvia, 22 December 2022 | ||
COV Player withdrew from the squad due to contracting COVID-19. |
|
|
UEFS Futsal Men's Championship
CFA International Futsal Tournament
Futsal Week Winter Cup
Continental Futsal Championship
Rabat International Futsal Tournament
Croatia International Futsal Tournament
Vietnam International Futsal Tournament (Ho Chi Minh City)
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.