Morocco at the Africa Cup of Nations

Morocco is one of Africa's major forces in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Historically, Morocco participated in the AFCON much later than other North African states. However, once Morocco made their debut in 1972, Morocco emerged and became a fearsome power of the tournament, becoming the second North African side to win the AFCON at 1976. ^[1] However, ever since the win, Morocco's best performance was only runners-up in 2004. ^[2] Morocco therefore, became the underachiever in the AFCON, in spite of their rich, prestigious records.

Morocco was initially scheduled to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, but was later ruled out after the fear of Ebola outbreak controversy. ^[3]

Overall record

See also: Africa Cup of Nations records and statistics

Africa Cup of Nations record										Africa Cup of Nations qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1957	Did not enter									Did not enter
1959
1962	Withdrew									Withdrew
1963	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	5	6
1965	Did not enter									Did not enter
1968
1970	Did not qualify									2	1	0	1	1	2
1972	Group stage	5th	3	0	3	0	3	3		4	2	0	2	9	6
1974	Did not enter									Did not enter
1976	Champions	1st	6	4	2	0	11	6		6	4	0	2	13	4
1978	Group stage	6th	3	1	1	1	2	4		Qualified as defending champions
1980	Third place	3rd	5	2	1	2	4	3		4	2	1	1	14	5
1982	Did not qualify									4	3	0	1	8	4
1984										4	1	2	1	4	2
1986	Fourth place	4th	5	1	2	2	4	5		2	1	1	0	1	0
1988	Fourth place	4th	5	1	3	1	3	3		Qualified as hosts
1990	Did not qualify									2	0	2	0	1	1
1992	Group stage	9th	2	0	1	1	1	2		6	4	0	2	11	4
1994	Did not qualify									6	2	2	2	5	4
1996										4	1	1	2	2	4
1998	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	1	1	6	3		6	4	2	0	10	1
2000	Group stage	11th	3	1	1	1	1	2		4	2	2	0	6	4
2002		9th	3	1	1	1	3	4		6	3	1	2	5	4
2004	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	14	4		6	5	1	0	10	0
2006	Group stage	13th	3	0	2	1	0	1		10	5	5	0	17	7
2008		11th	3	1	0	2	7	6		4	3	1	0	6	1
2010	Did not qualify									10	3	3	4	14	13
2012	Group stage	12th	3	1	0	2	4	5		6	3	2	1	8	2
2013		10th	3	0	3	0	3	3		2	1	0	1	4	2
2015	Disqualified									Originally qualified as hosts, then disqualified
2017	Quarter-finals	7th	4	2	0	2	4	3		6	5	1	0	10	1
2019	Round of 16	9th	4	3	1	0	4	1		6	3	2	1	8	3
2021	Quarter-finals	5th	5	3	1	1	8	5		6	4	2	0	10	1
2023	Round of 16	11th	4	2	1	1	5	3		4	3	0	1	8	3
2025	Qualified as hosts									Qualified as hosts
2027	To be determined									To be determined
Total	1 Title	20/35	74	29	25	20	87	66	122	66	31	25	190	84

By match

•   – Win
•   – Draw
•   – Lose

AFCON tournament	Round	Date	Opponent	Score	Morocco scorers
1972	Group stage	25 February 1972	Congo	1–1	Faras
		27 February 1972	Sudan	1–1	Faras
		29 February 1972	Zaire	1–1	Faras
1976	Group stage	1 March 1976	Sudan	1–1	Fetoui, Abouali
		4 March 1976	Zaire	1–0	Zahraoui
		6 March 1976	Nigeria	3–1	Faras, Tazi, Chebbak
	Final round	9 March 1976	Egypt	2–1	Faras, Zahraoui
		11 March 1976	Nigeria	2–1	Faras, Guezzar
		14 March 1976	Guinea	1–1	Makrouh
1978	Group stage	6 March 1978	Tunisia	1–1	Amcharrat
		9 March 1978	Congo	1–0	Amcharrat
		11 March 1978	Uganda	0–3	–
1980	Group stage	9 March 1980	Guinea	1–1	Mustapha
		13 March 1980	Algeria	0–1	–
		16 March 1980	Ghana	1–0	Labied
	Semi-finals	19 March 1980	Nigeria	0–1	–
	Third place	21 March 1980	Egypt	2–0	Labied (2)
1986	Group stage	8 March 1986	Algeria	0–0	–
		11 March 1986	Cameroon	1–1	Merry
		14 March 1986	Zambia	1–0	Chilengi ( o.g. )
	Semi-finals	17 March 1986	Egypt	0–1	–
	Third place	20 March 1986	Ivory Coast	2–3	Rhiati, Sahil
1988	Group stage	13 March 1988	Zaire	1–1	Merry ( p )
		16 March 1988	Algeria	1–0	El Haddaoui
		19 March 1988	Ivory Coast	0–0	–
	Semi-finals	23 March 1988	Cameroon	0–1	–
	Third place	23 March 1988	Algeria	1–1 (3–4 p)	Nader
1992	Group stage	12 January 1992	Cameroon	0–1	–
		14 January 1992	Zaire	1–1	Rokbi
1998	Group stage	9 February 1998	Zambia	1–1	Bahja
		13 January 1998	Mozambique	3–0	Chiba, Elkhattabi, Fertout
		17 January 1998	Egypt	1–0	Hadji
	Quarter-finals	22 January 1998	South Africa	1–2	Chiba
2000	Group stage	25 January 2000	Congo	1–0	Bassir
		29 January 2000	Tunisia	0–0	–
		3 February 2000	Nigeria	0–2	–
2002	Group stage	21 January 2002	Ghana	0–0	–
		26 January 2002	Burkina Faso	2–1	Zerouali (2)
		30 January 2002	South Africa	1–3	Benmahmoud ( p )
2004	Group stage	27 January 2004	Nigeria	1–0	Hadji
		31 January 2004	Benin	4–0	Chamakh, Mokhtari, Ouaddou, El Karkouri
		4 February 2004	South Africa	1–1	Safri ( p )
	Quarter-finals	8 February 2004	Algeria	3–1 ( a.e.t. )	Chamakh, Hadji, Zairi
	Semi-finals	11 February 2004	Mali	4–0	Mokhtari (2), Hadji, Baha
	Final	14 February 2004	Tunisia	1–2	Mokhtari
2006	Group stage	20 January 2006	Ivory Coast	0–1	–
		24 January 2006	Egypt	0–0	–
		28 January 2006	Libya	0–0	–
2008	Group stage	21 January 2008	Namibia	5–1	Alloudi (3), Sektioui, Zerka
		24 January 2008	Guinea	2–3	Aboucherouane, Ouaddou
		28 January 2008	Ghana	0–2	–
2012	Group stage	23 January 2012	Tunisia	1–2	Kharja
		27 January 2012	Gabon	2–3	Kharja (2)
		31 January 2012	Niger	1–0	Belhanda
2013	Group stage	19 January 2013	Angola	0–0	–
		23 January 2013	Cape Verde	1–1	El-Arabi
		27 January 2013	South Africa	2–2	El Adoua, Hafidi
2017	Group stage	16 January 2017	DR Congo	0–1	–
		20 January 2017	Togo	3–1	Bouhaddouz, Saïss, En-Nesyri
		24 January 2017	Ivory Coast	1–0	Alioui
	Quarter-finals	29 January 2017	Egypt	0–1	–
2019	Group stage	23 June 2019	Namibia	1–0	Keimuine ( o.g. )
		28 June 2019	Ivory Coast	1–0	En-Nesyri
		1 July 2019	South Africa	1–0	Boussoufa
	Round of 16	5 July 2019	Benin	1–1 (1–4 p)	En-Nesyri
2021	Group stage	10 January 2022	Ghana	1–0	Boufal
		14 January 2022	Comoros	2–0	Amallah, Aboukhlal
		18 January 2022	Gabon	2–2	Boufal ( p ), Hakimi
	Round of 16	25 January 2022	Malawi	2–1	En-Nesyri, Hakimi
	Quarter-finals	30 January 2022	Egypt	1–2 ( a.e.t. )	Boufal ( p )
2023	Group stage	17 January 2024	Tanzania	3–0	Saïss, Ounahi, En-Nesyri
		21 January 2024	DR Congo	1–1	Hakimi
		24 January 2024	Zambia	1–0	Ziyech
	Round of 16	30 January 2024	South Africa	0–2	–

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Years (goals)
1	Ahmed Faras	6	1972 (3), 1976 (3)
2	Youssef En-Nesyri	5	2017, 2019 (2), 2021, 2023
3	Khalid Labied	3	1980 (3)
	Youssouf Hadji		2004 (3)
	Youssef Mokhtari		2004 (3)
	Soufiane Alloudi		2008 (3)
	Houssine Kharja		2012 (3)
	Sofiane Boufal		2021 (3)
	Achraf Hakimi		2021 (2), 2023

Awards

AFCON Top Scorer

• 1980: Khalid Labied (3 goals)
• 2004: Youssef Mokhtari (4 goals)
• 2012: Houssine Kharja (3 goals)

Team of the Tournament

• 1972: Allal Ben Kassou, Boujemaa Benkhrif ^[4]
• 1976: Mohammed Al-Hazaz, Mustapha "Chérif" Fetoui, Ahmed Faras
• 1978: Mohammed Al-Hazaz, Larbi Ihardane
• 1988: Tijani El Maataoui, Aziz Bouderbala
• 1998: Noureddine Naybet
• 2004: Walid Regragui, Abdeslam Ouaddou, Youssouf Hadji ^[5]
• 2012: Houssine Kharja(substitute) ^[6]
• 2017: Mbark Boussoufa(substitute)
• 2021: Achraf Hakimi ^[7]

See also

• Morocco at the FIFA World Cup

References

1. "CAN – Historique : 1976, le Maroc sur le toit de l'Afrique". December 19, 2014.
2. "Tunisia win Cup of Nations". February 14, 2004 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
3. Kingsley, Patrick (November 11, 2014). "Morocco disqualified from next year's Africa Cup of Nations" – via www.theguardian.com.
4. "African Nations Cup 1972 - Final Tournament Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2023-10-10.
5. "CAN 2004 L'équipe type de la CAN". rfi.fr. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
6. "Orange CAN 2012 Best XI". cafonline.com. 12 February 2012.
7. @CAF_Online (7 February 2022). "Not your average players Here is the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 best XI #AFCON2021" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 February 2022– via Twitter.

External links

• Africa Cup of Nations – Archives competitions – cafonline.com