Rabat – As African football legends and officials of African football’s governing body (CAF) convened in Abidjan today for the 2026 World Cup African qualifiers draw, Morocco’s remarkable achievement at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar stood out as the symbol of African success on the global stage.
The event kicked off with the presenter, Mimi Fawaz, recalling Morocco’s special performances at the previous world cup tournament.
She said that the Atlas Lions made history by reaching the high semi-finals of the prestigious tournament, something that no African team had done before. Introducing the event, FIFA President Gianni Infantino wished all the teams success at the next World Cup.
Before the draw began, the CAF president Patrice Motsepe delivered an opening speech in which he expressed his gratitude to all the African players who aspire to represent their respective nations and Africa as a whole at the 2026 World Cup.
Motsepe then highlighted the Moroccan Atlas Lions’ incredible run at last year’s World Cup, saying that “Morocco has shown us that, indeed, an African nation can go to the semi-finals.”
Maintaining an upbeat spirit throughout his speech and the entire event, he spoke of Africa’s dream of seeing an African team reach the final and even win the prestigious trophy. “We are optimistic that at the next world cup an African nation will go one step further,” he said.
After thanking and wishing success to all the participants, the CAF chief expressed his belief that the future of African football looks very promising.
The preliminary draw event also saw the attendance of African football legends as the Ivorian Emmanuel Eboue, the Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan, the Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha, the Togolese Emmanuel Adebayor, the Egyptian Wael Gomaa, and the Cameroonian Alexandre Song.
Read also: CAF President Commends Morocco’s Performances at 2022 World Cup
When asked about his expectations from this new World Cup format, which is expected to feature more African representatives as the number of participating teams is set to increase from 32 to 48, Okocha said: “Morocco have renewed our hope that it is possible for an African nation to win the World Cup.”
Adebayor echoed this sentiment of the Atlas Lions’ triumphant journey in Qatar having made the dream of being world champions seem more realizable or less far-fetched for African football. “Last year was an incredible moment for all the African continent as Morocco went far in the tournament,” said the former Arsenal and Real Madrid player.
The draw ended with Morocco being placed in Group E alongside Zambia, Niger, Congo, Tanzania, and Eritrea. Many have since described this outcome as a favorable, even generous draw for a Moroccan national team that is beaming with talents and is visibly hungry to bring to a happy close the triumphant story it started in Qatar.
