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The Morocco National Football Team is expected to face Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday 11th of November in one of the most important games played since 1998. To be qualified to the 2018 World Cup to be held in Russia, the Atlas Lions are supposed to defeat the Ivorian Elephants. A long-awaited victory that Moroccans are cheering for and an opportunity for us to shed light on the four times in history Moroccans managed to get qualified to the FIFA World Cup.
For those who witnessed the Atlas Lions’ golden age, they for sure recall these four dates : 1970, 1986, 1994 and 1998. Morocco national football team was the first African team to win a group at the 1986 World Cup, defeating Portugal, Poland and England. This edition was victorious for the Atlas Lions who managed to show the world that they are strong enough to face big teams. During the same competition, the Atlas Lions’ team was the first African team to make it to the second round barely losing to eventual runners-up west Germany. 1998, was also a big year for the Moroccan team, however, it narrowly missed repeating the same achievement.
But before being qualified to the international association football competition, Moroccan footballers had to fight hard during the qualifiers. Participating four times to the World Cup, the Atlas Lions succeeded in impressing football lovers in Africa throughout the World Cup Qualifiers of 1970, 1986, 1994 and 1998.
Mexico in 1970
Mexico was the host of the 1970 World Cup which lasted from 31May to 21 June. 16 countries were qualified to the competition held for the first time in North Africa, and Morocco was one of them. Before flying to Mexico the Atlas Lions played against Senegal on the 1970 World Cup Qualifiers first round. Defeating the Senegalese team twice on the 3rd of November 1968 and 13th of February 1969, Morocco reached the second round where it faced Tunisia trice. The aggregate score was tied 0-0, and a play-off on a neutral ground was played to decide who would advance to the Final Round. Finally, Morocco advanced to the Final Round, by winning a coin toss. Qualified to the Final Round, the Atlas Lions defeated Nigeria 2-1 and Sudan 3-0 and secured a ticket to Mexico City.
Morocco national team for the 1970 World Cup./Ph. DR
Back to Mexico for another World Cup
Once again the World Cup was held in Mexico and this time it was in 1986. 24 teams from 5 confederations participated to the international competition. Morocco and Algeria both took part in the World Cup representing the African continent. In its first qualifying matches, the national team played against Sierra Leone twice and successfully defeated it (1-0 / 4-0). On the second round, it won against Malawi twice while repeating the same achievement during the third tour played against Egypt. The Atlas Lions were qualified to the 1986 World Cup by kicking Libya out of the completion on the final round (3-0).
Morocco vs Germany in the 1986 World Cup./Ph. DR
1994 and the third World Cup
In 1994, Morocco, Cameroon and Nigeria were all qualified to the FIFA World Cup hosted by the United States. On the first round of the African qualifiers, Morocco defeated the Ethiopian team twice (5-0 / 1-0) and Benin (1-0 / 5-0) while scoring was tied to 0-0 and 1-1 in two matches played against Tunisia. The Atlas Lions were qualified to the final round topping their group with 10 points. They managed later to qualify be facing Zambia (1-2 / 1-0) and Senegal (1-0 / 3-1).
Morocco squad, June 29, 1994, World Cup, Holland 2-Morocco 1)./Ph. DR
1998 World Cup in France
For the fourth time, the Atlas Lions secured their ticket to another FIFA World Cup. In 1998, France hosted the international competition allowing 32 teams to fight for the golden cup. During the 1998 World Cup Qualifiers, the national team did not participate to the first round but played against Sierra Leone (2-0 / 1-0), Ghana (2-2 / 1-0) and Gabon (4-0 / 2-0) during the final round.
Fingers crossed now for the Morocco national football team and good luck for the Atlas Lions for their upcoming match in Abidjan.
