"Qatar's memory" raises the aspirations of the Moroccan people for the "2026 World Cup."

This year's World Football Day, which falls on May 25 each year, comes just days before the kickoff of the first matches of the 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. This is amidst rising ambitions of Moroccan fans, especially after the achievement of the "Atlas Lions" in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, when they reached the semi-finals and etched their name in history as the first African team to reach this stage.

According to experts, the Qatar saga places the Moroccan national team, with its players, new coach, and technical staff, under the pressure of past achievements and the expectations of the future. Moroccan football fans see the repetition of the scenario of the "Al Bayt Stadium" in Al Khor, Qatar, which hosted the semi-final match between Morocco and France, as a legitimate ambition and a realistic goal, especially given the capabilities of the national elite that broke the barrier of exiting in the group stage.

National coach Mohamed Wahbi confirmed in a television interview earlier this month that the Moroccan national team he oversees will enter the 2025 World Cup with great ambition, emphasizing that "ambition must be coupled with work and realism, and the goal is to present a strong team with a clear identity capable of competing with the top national teams in the world," as he expressed.

Abdel Latif Metoukil, president of the Moroccan Association of Sports Journalists, stated that "the historic achievement of the Moroccan national team in the Qatar 2022 World Cup succeeded, first and foremost, in breaking a psychological barrier towards others; that barrier which made us believe that we were incapable of reaching the summit in the World Cup, and limited our aspirations and dreams to merely surpassing the group stage."

Metoukil added in a statement to Hespress that "the technical management of the national team witnessed a surprising change before going to Qatar, as they parted ways with coach Vahid Halilhodžić and contracted with Walid Regragui, and no one at that time expected the team to reach the semi-finals. However, what was ultimately achieved confirms that the Moroccan player is capable of reaching the highest peaks globally and competing with the strongest football schools; he is no less in quality or value than any international players around the world."