Morocco

Morocco is a North African constitutional monarchy of approximately 38 million people, situated at the northwestern tip of Africa. Its capital is Rabat; the largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has approximately 100,000 nationals in the UAE and maintains a significant diaspora across Europe, particularly France and Spain. It is an Abraham Accords signatory (2020), normalising relations with Israel. Morocco co-hosted the successful 2030 FIFA World Cup bid with Spain and Portugal. The country navigates a complex diplomatic position: Abraham Accords alignment, traditional Gulf ties, and Arab solidarity sit alongside BRICS-adjacent relationships and a deep trade relationship with the European Union.

A Moroccan national is among the ten foreign workers killed in Iranian strikes on the UAE since February 2026. Morocco's government has not taken a formal public position on the conflict, reflecting diplomatic caution: the Abraham Accords partnership with Israel places the kingdom implicitly on the opposite side from Tehran, while Gulf trade ties make open condemnation of Iran strategically costly. The UAE fatality adds a human dimension that the Moroccan government has declined to address publicly.

Morocco's national team, the Atlas Lions, are the defending standard-bearers of African football after reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the first African nation ever to do so. That run, built around Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech, Youssef En-Nesyri and coach Walid Regragui, generated one of the tournament's most-discussed upsets and Left a golden generation largely intact for 2026. The Atlas Lions opened the 2026 tournament against a depleted Brazil on 13 June at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, framed by Neymar's confirmed absence with a grade-2 calf strain alongside the losses of Rodrygo, Estevao and Militao. Morocco progressed from Group c as runners-up after a 4-2 comeback win over Haiti in which the Atlas Lions twice came from behind. Haiti had scored their first World Cup goals in 52 years through Lenny Joseph and Wilson Isidor, but Morocco's quality told in the second half. Together with the result against Brazil, Morocco qualified for the Round of 32 as one of the strongest African sides the tournament has produced. Morocco fans face partial US immigration restrictions (tourist visas available but requiring individual applications), and the State Department confirmed it had no estimates for how restrictions would affect fan attendance in US venues. Morocco's 2030 co-hosting role with Spain and Portugal means this tournament places the kingdom's football infrastructure and FIFA relationship under sustained international scrutiny.

In the Round of 32, Morocco knocked out the Netherlands on 29 June, defender Issa Diop equalising in the 91st minute before the Atlas Lions won the penalty shoot-out 3-2, Ismael Saibari converting the decisive kick . The result sent one of Europe's fancied sides out at its earliest-ever World Cup stage and carried Morocco into the last 16, extending the run of African sides advancing past European seeds.

France ended Morocco's run in the quarter-finals, winning 2-0 in Boston on 9 July to become the 2026 tournament's first semi-finalists. Kylian Mbappe missed a first-half penalty, saved by goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, before scoring after the hour from a Desire Doue pass; Ousmane Dembele added a second. Morocco's exit closed out the record ten-nation African entry at this World Cup, with the Atlas Lions finishing as both the tournament's only Arab and only African quarter-finalist.