Yahya Jabrane: First Moroccan Athlete to Play Futsal, Football World Cups

Rabat – Former player of Morocco’s national futsal team Yahya Jabrane is set to attend Qatar World Cup with the Atlas Lions.

According to his club Wydad Athletic Club (WAC), the midfielder is the first player to attend the futsal and football World Cups. Jabrane represented Morocco in the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand before becoming an international football player.

Jabrane’s football journey was marked by good performances with Moroccan clubs, Raja Beni Mellal, Mouloudia d’Oujda, and Hassania d’Agadir.

On July 1, 2018, Jabrane left the Moroccan league to join the UAE-based Dibba Al-Fujairah club where he spent roughly four months before returning to Casablanca, near his hometown Settat, to sign a four-year contract with Wydad AC.

Since then, Jabrane has contributed to the club’s victory in CAF Champions League in May by scoring two goals in two games. He also assisted his team in securing three titles for the Moroccan championship for the 2018/19, 2020/21, and 2021/22 seasons.

The midfielder, also captain of the Red Castle, received the player of the year award in Botola Pro Inwi in July after scoring one goal and assisting another in eight matches throughout the tournament.

His recent success with Wydad AC and participation in a Moroco-Chile friendly game in Spain has helped increase the player’s market value to €1.9 million in November, up from €800,000 in April 2021 and €1.3 million in December 2021, according to data from Transfermarkt.

Jabrane’s market value is expected to increase over the coming months with his participation in the World Cup, organized in Qatar from November 20 to December 18.

Jabrane first joined the national squad in the CAF African Nations Championship (CAN) in 2018, but has spent most of his career with the national team on the bench.

In 2018, he only participated in one out of seven games in the competition but celebrated his team’s 4-0 victory against Nigeria in the final on April 2, 2018, from the bench.

After being absent in the World Cup, CAN qualifiers, and international friendly in 2018 and 2019, Jabrane returned to the Atlas Lions squad for the CAN qualifiers in November 2019 but stayed on the bench for two matches against Mauritania and Burundi.

However, 2021 was the peak of his career with the national team as he participated in all Moroccan games in the CAF African Nations Championship and scored in the country’s opener against Togo (1-0) in the first match of Group A.

He later participated in the CAN qualifiers against Mauritania, the friendlies against Ghana and Burkina Faso as well as two group matches and quarter-finals in the FIFA Arab Cup.

In 2022, Jabrane was absent from most Atlas Lions games in the World Cup qualifiers, CAN, and CAN qualifiers.

On November 10, Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui announced Jabrane among the seven Moroccan midfielders to feature in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The list included Sofyan Amrabat, Amine Harit, and Azzedine Ounahi. Olympique Marseille’s midfielder Harit is currently suffering from a serious knee injury that has disqualified him from the competition.

Regragui is expected to find a replacement for Harit to complete the 26-member squad. However, Harit’s absence in the tournament might provide more match time for Jabrane who has previously worked under the management of Regragui in WAC.