Morocco head coach Walid Regragui has named his 23-man squad as the country heads to Ivory Coast next year for Africa’s biggest football competition.
The Atlas Lions shocked the World with their impressive performance in the World Cup in Qatar last year as they became the first African country to reach the last four.
Africa’s best goalkeeper of the year, Yassine Bounou, is among the squad. The former Sevilla goalie who did a great job with them last season as they won the Europa League later on mover to Al Hilal in the Saudi League is tipped to lead the Lions to glory.
West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd, PSG’s Achraf Hakimi and Noussair Mazraoui of Bayern Munich are all part of the contingent heading to Ivory Coast among the defenders.
Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat alongside Marseille’s Azzedine Ounahi headline the top names deep in midfield alongside Hakim Ziyech who moved from Chelsea to Galatasaray in the summer.
Top marksman Youssef En-Nesyri, Sofiane Boufal, Amine Adli, and Abde Ezzalzouli, together with experienced Ayoub El Kaabi all made the cut in attack.
Ismail Saibari of PSV Eindhoven, who made a brilliant statement at the AFCON U23 Championship in Morocco this summer, is also part of the squad together with fellow mate Amir Richardson.
With huge expectations of the Magrebians, Morocco is highly rated as one of the countries to win the continental showpiece in Ivory Coast next year.
Regragui who was part of the Tunisia 2004 squad under Badou Ezzaki as a player made a great impact as the right back for the Atlas Lions in an AFCON they ended up as runners-up after loosing 2:1 in final against the hosts.
Here is the full squad:
