All posts tagged: Moroccos

Morocco’s tireless legs may be answer to stopping Olise, Mbappe

Morocco’s tireless legs may be answer to stopping Olise, Mbappe

Published by Webster

No team has scored more goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup than France. No team has had more attempts on target either. There is no subjective statistic to corroborate this, but eye test suggests no team has a more intimidating attacking quartet than France’s. Kylian Mbappe. Ousmane Dembele. Michael Olise. Desire Doue. How could Morocco relent the unrelenting in the impending quarter-final? Turns out, Morocco’s greatest weapon against France is…France. They will be relying on three footballers shaped by the French system, each of whom either wore France’s colours, or harboured a desire to do so. At the heart of the defence is Issa Diop. At only 21, barely weeks after moving to England, he repelled every attack in a game against Manchester United. Jose Mourinho could barely believe what he saw. “Congratulations to whoever scouted him. The kid is a monster!” Diop was scouted by West Ham United after standout performances for France at the 2016 U-21 Euros — the very tournament that also offered the first glimpses of the brilliance of Kylian …

Morocco’s teen sensation who stopped to applaud a pass at World Cup

Morocco’s teen sensation who stopped to applaud a pass at World Cup

Published by Webster

5 min readUpdated: Jun 20, 2026 08:07 AM IST At 15, Ayyoub Bouaddi was at the French president’s place, the Élysée Palace, making a case about how you should play. At 18, against Brazil at the FIFA World Cup, he answered his own question. In June 2023, the final of the national eloquence competition for French professional football academies was at the Élysée Palace with first lady Brigitte Macron in the audience. The topic given to the youngster from Creil and other finalists was: Le résultat est-il supérieur à la manière? Is the result superior to the manner? Bouaddi won. ALSO READ | FIFA World Cup teams adopt PSG’s rugby-inspired kick-out strategy Creil is a town in the Oise, 40 minutes north of Paris by train. Sofiane Khair coached the football prodigy at AFC Creil fr om the age of 6 to 15. When Bouaddi began appearing for Lille’s first team, Khair told Eurosport: “We’re the only ones it doesn’t surprise.” Then he listed why. Maturity. Intelligence. Calm. Self-belief. Courage. And always first at training. And …

Morocco’s Saibari scores fastest goal, USA qualify for knockouts

Morocco’s Saibari scores fastest goal, USA qualify for knockouts

Published by Webster

3 min readJun 20, 2026 06:36 AM IST FIFA World Cup 2026 Highlights, June 20: Ismael Saibari’s 70th-second strike eventually proved to be the only differentiator in Morocco and Scotland’s Group C encounter at the Boston Stadium on Friday afternoon. Saibari’s lightning-fast strike is the earliest goal at this year’s World Cup and the fastest since Alphonso Davies’ 68-second goal for Canada against Croatia in 2022. The feat also makes him only the second African player, alongside Mohamed Salah, to find the back of the net in his first two World Cup appearances. Morocco, who reached the semifinals at the last World Cup in Qatar, drew 1-1 with Brazil in their Group C opener. FOLLOW LIVE: Brazil vs Haiti Live Score Updates Saibari slipped behind two Scotland defenders and Brahim Diaz dropped the ball over the top to him. Saibari gathered and blasted it into the top left corner of the net, well outside the reach of goalkeeper Angus Gunn. Saibari, currently linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich, owed his latest goal to …

FIFA World Cup: How a shared border with Spain shaped Morocco’s football | Football News

FIFA World Cup: How a shared border with Spain shaped Morocco’s football | Football News

Published by Webster

Spain and Morocco are literal neighbours. Their football is enmeshed – six Spain-born players will turn out for Morocco at the 2026 World Cup. Spain is the only European country whose autonomous regions sit on the African continent – the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Cueta being Morocco’s land neighbours. The narrow Strait of Gibraltar in the Mediterranean is anyway less than a 15-km boat-ride away, but if one stood atop Mount Tidghin, the tallest peak of northern Morocco’s Rif range, in Al Hoceima city, one might see Spain on the horizon on a clear day. Like a beautiful vista beckoning from not too far, the Spanish dream has seen many Moroccans cross over, with second generations playing football in the Spanish system. For those like Brahim Diaz, Morocco’s lynchpin at the 2026 World Cup, it was a nudge from history and a push from geography that saw the influential Malaga-born forward returning to play for Morocco in 2023. When Morocco broke Spain’s 15-match unbeaten streak record in 2025, Brahim had been their top scorer, …

Search Underway for 2 US Service Members Missing Near Morocco’s Rugged Atlantic Coast During ‘African Lion’ War Games

Search Underway for 2 US Service Members Missing Near Morocco’s Rugged Atlantic Coast During ‘African Lion’ War Games

Published by Parlour News

2 min readRabat (morocco)May 3, 2026 07:25 PM IST Two US service members are missing in southwestern Morocco after taking part in annual multinational military exercises in the North African country, the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said Sunday. The US, Morocco and other countries participating in the African Lion exercise have launched a search and rescue operation, AFRICOM said. “The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” it said in a statement. The incident happened on Saturday at about 9 pm, the Moroccan military said, near the Cap Draa Training Area near Tan Tan, close to the Atlantic Ocean. The terrain is mountainous, a mix of desert and semidesert plains. The war games exercise started in April and runs across four countries, including Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal. It is scheduled to end in early May. The command did not state what unit or branch of the military the missing service members belong to. The Associated Press has requested clarification. The exercise began in Tunisia with active-duty members of different branches of the …

Explained: Unique chess format in which Viswanathan Anand will face Magnus Carslen, Nakamura in Morocco’s Casablanca | Chess News

Published by Webster

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand will face off against Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura and Amin Bassem, Africa’s strongest Grandmaster, at a chess event in Morocco’s Casablanca later this month where a very unique format will be showcased. The four players will represent their continents in the event that will take place on May 18th and 19th. The unique format is called the Casablanca Chess Variant by the organisers of the event (Casablanca Stock Exchange, Casa Events and Animation, and the Royal Moroccan Chess Federation) and it will have players having a completely new kind of starting position. We explain what the Casablanca Variant is and how the event will work. How does the Casablanca Chess Variant work? Explaining the unique format of the variant, the organisers said, “Each game at the Casablanca Chess will commence from equal positions inspired by historical gems — some renowned, others less so. (The question is) Will today’s masters follow the well-trodden paths of their predecessors, or will they choose a new direction?” While on commentary duty for the FIDE …

France End Morocco’s Dream FIFA World Cup Run To Set Up Final Clash With Argentina

Published by Webster

France ended Morocco’s World Cup dream as goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani gave the holders a 2-0 win in their semi-final clash and set up a showdown on Sunday with Lionel Messi‘s Argentina. It looked like France might make short work of their opponents when Hernandez scored inside five minutes at Al Bayt Stadium, despite having a hostile crowd against them. But Morocco, the first African and Arab team ever to reach the last four at a World Cup, fought on despite losing key players to injury only to see substitute Kolo Muani seal victory for Les Bleus with a late second. It will be France’s fourth World Cup final in seven editions and they are hoping to become the first team since Brazil 60 years ago to retain the trophy when they take on Argentina at Lusail Stadium on Sunday. That will be billed as a showdown between Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe, but this match was not about the latter’s individual brilliance. Instead France’s victory was down …