Morocco AFCON 2021 Preview 🇲🇦🦁

After an agonising two-and-a-half year wait, AFCON is finally back and the Atlas Lions will have their sights firmly set on a first AFCON title in 46 years. Under head coach Vahid Halilhodzic, Morocco have lost just one of his 20 games in charge and whilst his style of play and his choice to exclude certain high profile players may be questioned, it's difficult to argue with the results on the pitch. But do Morocco have a real chance of winning AFCON this time around?

The Squad

Vahid Halilhodzic has named a 28-man squad with few surprises. The two debutants are Angers midfielder Azzedine Ounahi and Gent forward Tarik Tissoudali, who in turn replaced Barcelona winger Abdesammad Ezzalzouli who has chosen to focus on cementing his place in the first team at the Camp Nou. Notable ommisions include Hakim Ziyech and Noussair Mazraoui as there disputes with the head coach continue. Jawad El-Yamiq and Adel Taarabt were also not included.

The Great Wall of Morocco

One area that Halilhodzic has really locked down in this Morocco side is the defence. The Atlas Lions have conceded just four goals in their last 16 games and of late the Bosnian has managed to finally find his trusted back four to sit in front of Yaccine Bounou. In the middle of the defence, skipper Romain Saiss and Rennes' Nayef Aguerd have formed a formidable partnership and have given few chances to opposition forwards. In the full back positions, Achraf Hakimi and Adam Masina have been deployed and both offer very different capabilities in their roles. Hakimi will get forward at most opportunities while Masina will be a lot more reserved in the positions he takes up while his added height is really beneficial when attacking and defending set-pieces. Altogether, they make up one of the best defences in Africa.

Attacking Options

For much of Vahid's time in charge, a huge criticism from fans has been the attacking style of play, with chance creation and personnel choices being major concerns. During the World Cup qualifiers, and possibly due to injuries and the omission of Ziyech, Halilhodzic may have stumbled across his best setup. The deployment of Ilias Chair behind a front two of Ayoub El Kaabi and Ryan Mmaee looks to be the favoured option and they linked up brilliantly in those games. With Youssef En-Nesyri having injury problems all season and coming into the tournament still nursing a knee complaint, it seems that El Kaabi and Mmaee will be tasked with getting the goals. As impact substitutions go, Sofiane Boufal could be huge. If he can translate his form with Angers to the national team, he could be a fantastic weapon to come on against tired defences.

Predicted XI

The goalkeeper and back four pick themselves. The midfield is interesting as all of Sofyan Amrabat, Aymen Barkok and Imran Louza have struggled for regular game time at club level, but are trusted by Halilhodzic to be disciplined in defensive and attacking phases. The lack of game time could actually work their favour as they could be fresher or could work against them in being out of match rhythm and sharpness, time will tell. In attack, as previously mentioned, it looks to be Chair behind Mmaee and El Kaabi, with good options in Boufal, Tissoudali and En-Nesyri making an impact from the bench.

Predictions

For Vahid, this tournament has to go well. After putting all of his cards on the table by omitting some of Morocco’s most talented players, it has to work. While the results have been excellent in the last year or so, there have been mitigating factors such as playing all of our World Cup qualifiers in Morocco, which was a huge advantage. How will this team perform in a Sub-Saharan country. Will Ayoub El-Kaabi and Ryan Mmaee provide enough goals to help the Atlas Lions progress to the latter stages?

My prediction is seven points from nine to top Group C, a narrow win in the last 16 before a penalty shootout defeat in the quarter finals to Algeria.