Morocco

Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal, and on 23 July the fight over its showpiece match came into the open. Rabat wants the final at the Grand Stade Hassan II, the stadium being built outside Casablanca, while a Spanish petition backs the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid.

The dispute runs alongside a proposed 64-TEAM, 128-match format that FIFA has under study but has not ratified. A larger tournament would raise the number of matches each co-host stages, and so the value of the final as the prize in the split. A final in Casablanca would be the first World Cup final played in North Africa.

Under Mohamed Ouahbi, appointed coach in March 2026, Morocco drew 1-1 with Brazil on 13 June and finished second in Group C. On 29 June they knocked out the Netherlands in the Round of 32, winning a shoot-out 3-2 after Issa Diop's 91st-minute equaliser. They then beat co-host Canada 3-0 in Houston on 4 July.

France ended the run 2-0 in Boston on 9 July. Yassine Bounou saved a Kylian Mbappé penalty before Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé scored. Morocco were the last survivors of a record ten-nation African entry, beaten by the same opponent and scoreline as in the 2022 semi-final.