The last faces of Arabs and Africans... Morocco continues to carry the banner in the World Cup.

The voices of critics of the Moroccan national football team have long been raised before the start of the 2026 World Cup, considering that what the "Atlas Lions" achieved in the Qatar 2022 World Cup was nothing more than "just a coincidence" or "a stroke of luck."

However, the reality today says otherwise, as Morocco is, for the second consecutive time, considered an inspiration and representative of Arab and African teams in the competition, after all of them were eliminated, the latest being the Egyptian team, which was eliminated yesterday in a dramatic scenario against Argentina.

Experts believe that the brilliance of the national team is not a coincidence, but rather the result of a strategic vision that has spanned years, yielding results today with a team that is capable of competing with the biggest global teams.

National coach Aziz Al-Amri believes that the team has seen significant development in recent years, especially since the era of coach Walid Regragui, citing the qualification of the "Atlas Lions" to the semi-finals of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and also to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025.

Al-Amri explained to Hespress that the "Lions" squad now consists of players with a young average age, which makes them physically capable of coping with the pressures of matches, adding that the individual level of the national team players has also improved, citing the examples of forwards Ismail Sabari and Ibrahim Diaz; he also noted that the performance of the players contributed to the team's results, emphasizing the importance of the majority of them playing professionally in the top European leagues.

The national coach also emphasized another factor related to King Mohammed VI's support for the team, pointing out that this gives a high moral boost to the players and the technical staff, highlighting that this aspect has directly reflected on the national team's performance, resulting in discipline and camaraderie among the players, adding that this point distinguishes the Moroccan team from other Arab and African teams.