Morocco have become the first African nation to qualify for the last four of the FIFA World Cup. Walid Regragui’s team made an impression despite a defeat like the defending champions, France, on the penultimate step.
Below are some facts about Morocco at the World Cup:
Morocco became the first African team to qualify for the semi-final of a World Cup tournament – each of the previous three African sides to reach a quarter-final were all eliminated at this stage (Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010).
World Cup Date Team Opponent GF GA Round Status
1990 01/07/1990 Cameroon England 2 3 QF Eliminated
2002 22/06/2002 Senegal Turkey 0 1 QF Eliminated
2010 02/07/2010 Ghana Uruguay 1 1 QF Eliminated
2022 10/12/2022 Morocco Portugal 1 0 QF Progressed
Morocco are unbeaten in their last six World Cup matches (W3 D3), the longest unbeaten run by an African nation in World Cup history.
World Cup : longest unbeaten runs by African Nations
Date of last day in run Team Unbeaten Run
14/12/2022 Morocco 6
14/06/1990 Cameroon 5
11/06/1986 Morocco 4
16/06/2002 Senegal 4
08/06/2002 South Africa 4
Morocco WC 2022 3
Morocco have kept four clean sheets at World Cup 2022, one more than they’d recorded in their first 16 games in the competition between 1970 and 2018 (3). In fact, their total of seven clean sheets is the joint-most by an African nation in World Cup history (level with Nigeria).
Team Clean Sheets
Morocco 7
Nigeria 7
Cameroon 5
Tunisia 3
Youssef En-Nesyri has now scored more World Cup goals than any other Morocco player in their history in the competition (3).
Most goals for Morocco
Player Team Goals
Youssef En-Nesyri Morocco 3
Abderrazad Khairi Morocco 2
Salaheddine Bassir Morocco 2
Abdeljalil Hadda Morocco 2
Zakaria Aboukhlal’s goal scored at 91:51 against Belgium was Morocco’s latest ever World Cup goal and their first scored in second half stoppage time.
World Cup: Morocco’s latest goals
Date Minute Player Position Team Opponent Exact Time
27/11/2022 90 Aboukhlal Striker Morocco Belgium 91:51
23/06/1998 85 Bassir Midfielder Morocco Scotland 84:25
25/06/2018 81 En-Nesyri Striker Morocco Spain 80:36
Yassine Bounou, who made his 50th appearance for Morocco against Portugal, became the first African goalkeeper to record three clean sheets in a single edition of the World Cup.
World Cup: Most Clean Sheets by African Goalkeeper
Season Team Player Clean Sheets
2022 Morocco Yassine Bounou 3
1982 Cameroon Thomas Nkono 2
1986 Morocco Ezaki Zaki 2
1994 Nigeria Peter Rufai 2
2010 Côte d’Ivoire Boubacar Barry 2
2014 Nigeria Vincent Enyeama 2
2022 Tunisia Aymen Dahmen 2
When Morocco faced Spain in the last 16, Yassine Bounou also became the first African goalkeeper to save a penalty in a World Cup shootout (saved two).
Morocco have won three games at World Cup 2022 – no African side has ever won more games at a single edition of the World Cup.
Most wins by an African nation
Team Season Wins
Cameroon 1990 3
Morocco 2022 3
Algeria 1982 2
Ghana 2006 2
Ghana 2010 2
Nigeria 1994 2
Nigeria 1998 2
Senegal 2002 2
Senegal 2022 2
Walid Regragui reached the World Cup semi-finals after only eight games in charge of Morocco, the lowest total of games before reaching this stage since Otto Gloria with Portugal in 1966 (5th game). He is also the first African coach to reach the semi-finals of the competition.
