Moroccan Football Returns to Olympic Games After 12 Years of Absence

Rabat – Moroccan and Malian football fans experienced a thrilling night on Tuesday as Morocco and Mali faced off in a matchup to determine the team that would join Egypt for the final of the ongoing U23 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Following a fairly balanced, long, and exhausting contest between the two sides, penalties ended up being the only way of settling the protracted showdown as both opponents showed perceptible eagerness to book their ticket to the coveted Olympic Games to be held in Paris in a year’s time.

Last night’s game took place at the Rabat Moulay Abdellah complex in the presence of a large crowd that remained hopeful and optimistic about the Atlas Lions’ qualification throughout the game, which did not end until midnight.

With the Moroccan team having clinched several impressive victories in the group stages, including a 2-1 comeback victory against a dogged Guinean team in the opening game and an imposing 5-1 annihilation of Ghana’s U23 team in the second group match, they were the favorites to win their showdown against Mali.

But victory eluded the fairly superior Moroccan side against a compact Malian team, and Atlas Lions fans had to go through the additional pain of penalty shootout uncertainty to see their team ultimately seal its ticket to the final.

Many have since congratulated Morocco’s team for its performance, with the US embassy to Morocco writing today: “Congratulations for Morocco’s qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024 and for the AFCON finals.”

The African Football Confederation (CAF) also applauded the Moroccan team’s performance, saying that Morocco’s qualification for the Paris Olympics “stands as a testament to their tenacity and determination, and they now aim to seize the opportunity to shine on the global stage of the Olympic competition.”

For fans of the increasingly highly rated Moroccan football team, meanwhile, the highlights of yesterday’s game was the double qualification to both the U23 AFCON final and the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Yet as well as returning to the much-coveted Olympic Games after a twelve-year hiatus, the U23 Atlas Lions now have the chance to win their first-ever AFCON, something many fans of Moroccan football hope may break the AFCON curse of the senior Atlas Lions ahead of the 2023 AFCON scheduled to be played in Ivory Coast early next year.

Set to take place in August 2024, the Paris Olympic Games will thus be marked by Moroccan football’s eighth appearance on the illustrious Olympic stage.

The first Olympic appearance for Morocco’s football team came at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where Morocco’s participation was short-lived after losing to Hungary 0-6 3-1 to Yugoslavia.

Morocco’s second participation in the games was in Munich in 1972. Unlike in 1964, the Moroccan football team had a much better and relatively remarkable tournament in Germany, reaching the second round.

Prior to Munich 1972, Morocco also qualified for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, but refused to allow the national team to play against the Israeli squad.

Morocco’s national team also was present in the 1972 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and in Barcelona in 1984, as well Barcelona 1992, Sydney in 2000, Athena in 2004 and London in 2012.

The Atlas Lions now appear to walk in the footsteps of the senior team, whose spectacular performances at the 2024 not only made history and made Moroccans proud, but also became an inspiration for underdog national football teams dreaming of disrupting European and South-American dominance.

But before dreaming of carrying Moroccan colors high in Paris next summer, the U23 Atlas Lions are understandably focused on winning their final against Egypt on Saturday at 9 p.m. As Walid Regragui, the head coach of the senior Atlas Lions, has repeatedly argued since Morocco’s historic run in Qatar, Morocco’s national team needs to dominate African football before eventually becoming “kings of the world.”