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Rabat – Morocco concluded its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with another historic run, reaching the quarterfinals for the second consecutive tournament and reinforcing its status as the most successful Arab and African national team on the global stage.
Although the Atlas Lions’ journey ended with a 2-0 defeat to France in the quarterfinals, the team leaves the tournament having broken several collective and individual records.
Morocco became the first Arab and African nation to reach the World Cup quarterfinals in back-to-back editions, following its historic semifinal appearance in Qatar 2022 and its last-eight finish in 2026.
The Atlas Lions also enjoyed their most prolific World Cup campaign ever, scoring 11 goals in six matches, the highest tally in the country’s history at the tournament.
Another achievement came in the Round of 16, where Morocco defeated Canada 3-0 to become the first African nation to score three goals in a single World Cup knockout match.
The victory also made Morocco the only African team to record wins in regulation time during the knockout stages of two consecutive World Cups, without needing extra time or penalty shootouts. The achievement extended an impressive run that saw the national team register 19 consecutive victories across all competitions and qualifiers during 2025 and 2026.
Individual records
Several Moroccan stars also etched their names into the World Cup record books.
Captain Achraf Hakimi became the Arab and African player with the most World Cup appearances, reaching 19 matches across the 2018, 2022, and 2026 editions.
Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou strengthened his legendary status by becoming the African goalkeeper with the most World Cup clean sheets, recording five in his career. And the first in the World Cup’s history to save 4 penalties
Meanwhile, Ismael Saibari finished as Morocco’s top scorer at the tournament with three goals. He also scored one of the fastest goals in Morocco’s World Cup history, finding the net just 71 seconds into the group-stage match against Scotland.
Morocco’s performances at the 2026 World Cup further demonstrated that its remarkable run to the semifinals in Qatar four years ago was no one-off achievement. Instead, the Atlas Lions have established themselves as a consistent force in international football and the benchmark for Arab and African national teams.
