After the Miracle: Where Morocco's 2022 Semi-Finalists Stand Today

Morocco's run to the semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup remains one of the defining stories of the modern tournament. The team that beat Spain and Portugal, that came within minutes of upsetting France in the semi-final, captured the imagination of supporters in ways that go beyond football and that have already been examined extensively in books, documentaries and academic studies. This piece is not about that run. It is about what has happened since, and about the version of the squad that will travel to North America in 2026 with a tactical identity that is no longer a secret and a set of expectations that have been recalibrated upward.

Manager Walid Regragui, who took over the squad just months before the 2022 tournament, has been retained. The federation's decision to extend his contract through the 2026 cycle was not controversial domestically, but it has been the subject of debate among observers who believe that the tactical surprise that worked in Qatar will be more difficult to replicate now that opponents have studied the patterns. Regragui has responded by gradually adjusting the system, retaining the defensive solidity that defined the 2022 team while adding more possession-based elements in matches against weaker opponents.

The core of the 2022 squad remains. Yassine Bounou, the goalkeeper whose performances in Qatar elevated him into the conversation about the best goalkeepers in the world, is still the first choice. Achraf Hakimi, the right-back who has anchored both the attacking and defensive sides of the team, is at his peak years and has continued to develop his game at Paris Saint-Germain. The center-back partnership of Romain Saïss and Nayef Aguerd has been disrupted by the gradual aging of Saïss, with Achraf Dari and Jawad El Yamiq competing for the spot alongside Aguerd. Sofyan Amrabat, the midfield destroyer whose performances against Spain became iconic, has had a difficult club period since but remains the heartbeat of the national team.

The attack has been refreshed more aggressively. Hakim Ziyech, the creative midfielder whose role at the 2022 World Cup was both prominent and controversial, has stepped back from the squad. The space he leaves has been filled by a younger generation that includes Bilal El Khannouss, the Genk and now Leicester City midfielder, and Eliesse Ben Seghir, the Monaco attacker who has become the most exciting young player in the squad. The front line, led by Youssef En-Nesyri and supported by Soufiane Rahimi from the UAE league, is more direct than the unit that played in Qatar and more dangerous in transition.

The qualifying campaign was strong. Morocco won eight of ten matches and conceded just five goals across the entire group, the best defensive record in the African qualifying region. The performances were not always inspiring, but the results were consistent, and Regragui has resisted the temptation to push the squad into more ambitious tactical experiments before the tournament. The team will arrive in North America with the same defensive foundation that worked in Qatar and with attacking options that have more variety than the 2022 squad could call upon.

The expanded format has implications for African football that are worth considering. Africa has been allocated nine direct qualification spots, up from five in previous tournaments, which has produced a different competitive landscape across the continent. Smaller federations have invested more aggressively in their national team programs because the path to qualification has become more realistic. Morocco's position at the top of the African football pyramid is more secure than it was four years ago, but the depth of the continent has increased, and several of the qualifying nations will be more difficult opponents in the tournament than their predecessors were.

What the 2026 Morocco squad cannot do is travel as the underdog. The narrative that powered the Qatar run, the sense of a team and a continent finally getting the respect they deserved, is no longer available. The squad will be the favorite in some of their group-stage matches and an equal in others. The pressure is different. Regragui has acknowledged the shift in public comments and has tried to manage expectations by emphasizing the difficulty of replicating tournament football of the kind that produced the 2022 semi-final. The honesty has been appropriate, and the squad seems to have internalized the message.

The 2026 tournament will be the test of whether Morocco's 2022 run was a unique convergence of factors or the beginning of a sustained period at the top of international football. The squad has the talent to make a deep run. The tactical system has been refined rather than reinvented. The manager has the trust of the federation and the dressing room. What happens on the pitch is unpredictable, as it always is in tournament football, but the foundation has been built carefully enough that the result is unlikely to be a regression to the level Moroccan supporters had grown accustomed to before the Qatar tournament transformed the team's identity.