Rabat, Morocco – Noussair Mazraoui has won his fitness battle to be included in Morocco’s Africa Cup of Nations title defence squad but Sofiane Diop misses out through injury.
Coach Walid Regragui named a 27-man panel on Thursday headlined by global stars like PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi, Chelsea attacker Hakim Ziyech, Sevilla goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and skipper Romain Saiss.
Following their historic World Cup semi-final run last month, the Atlas Lions are among the favourites to claim continental glory in Ivory Coast as they bid to retain the trophy won under Regragui’s predecessor Vahid Halilhodžić in 2021.
And Regragui was relieved to be able to call on the services of Bayern Munich right-back Mazraoui, who has recently returned from a heart issue that ruled him out of the World Cup.
Rémois centre-back Yunis Abdelhamid is another surprise inclusion having been consistently overlooked by the previous regime, while Bayer Leverkusen’s Amine Adli and exciting PSV prospect Xavi Simons will experience their first major tournament.
There is no room, however, for OGC Nice winger Sofiane Diop who misses out having been sidelined since late November with a broken metatarsal.
Morocco kick-off their Group D campaign versus Tanzania on January 17th before facing Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia as they set out to become only the fourth nation to successfully defend the AFCON trophy.
اللائحة النهائية لأسود الأطلس مستعدة لنهائيات كأس أمم إفريقيا كوت ديفوار 2023
🚨 Team list confirmed for the upcoming TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/3LLpH1QbXJ
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 28, 2023
لائحة المنتخب الوطني المستدعاة لنهائيات كأس أمم إفريقيا كوت ديفوار 2023
🚨 Introducing our #AtlasLions for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023! Ready to get going! 👊#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/ID0cwamxrs
— Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) December 28, 2023
