Rabat – Following the official draw for the 2026 Futsal AFCON, hosted in Morocco from October 12 to October 21, head coach Hicham Dguig expressed full confidence in the squad’s readiness to defend their continental crown on home soil.
Hicham confirmed that the draw for the African Cup of Nations finals was balanced, after placing the Lions alongside the teams of Algeria, Libya and Zambia, noting that the national team competes to secure its continental championship title…
“I think the draw was very balanced and relied on the global ranking of the teams,” Dguig stated in an interview with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF). “It was clear that Morocco would head the group as world leader.”
The Atlas Lions start their campaign with a high-stakes clash against Algeria. Dguig emphasized that Algeria’s squad is stacked with talent, particularly players honing their skills in elite European futsal leagues.
“The draw gave us a very important opening match against the Algerian team, which we know well,” Dguig added. “They possess a strong group of players active in the French league and have gained significant attention recently.”
Boosting preparation
To ensure peak tactical preparation, the technical staff scheduled two high-profile international friendly matches ahead of final roster selection. The squad faces Bosnia and Herzegovina this week before taking on Saudi Arabia next week.
“We will play friendly matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina this week, then against Saudi Arabia next week, and after that we will work on preparing the final list in the best conditions, in order to defend our title in front of our fans, God willing,” Dguig affirmed
With preparations underway, the coaching staff continues analyzing opponent match film to prevent unexpected developments during group play. Following the upcoming friendly matches, Dguig will finalize the squad list for the tournament.
“We are fully prepared for this competition and are working to maintain our title,” Dguig concluded. “We will finalize our list under the best conditions to defend our title in front of our fans.”
