Morocco secured their place as the first African nation to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a commanding 5-0 victory against a 10-man Niger Republic in Rabat on Friday, September 5. The win sealed Morocco’s top position in Group E.
Ismael Saibari opened the scoring with two first-half goals, capitalizing on Niger’s early setback after Abdul-Latif Goumey was sent off. In the second half, Ayoub El Kaabi, Hamza Igamane, and Azzedine Ounahi added further goals to complete the emphatic triumph.
This victory marked Morocco’s sixth consecutive win, lifting them to 18 points—eight clear of second-placed Tanzania—and confirmed their qualification for their seventh World Cup appearance with two matches still remaining.
The Atlas Lions will be aiming to match or surpass their historic 2022 run in Qatar, where they became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, notably defeating Spain and Portugal before falling 2-0 to eventual champions France.
Only Ounahi from the scorers against Niger was part of that 2022 squad, with coach Walid Regragui introducing fresh talent including PSV Eindhoven’s Saibari.
Morocco secured their place as the first African nation to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a commanding 5-0 victory against a 10-man Niger Republic in Rabat on Friday, September 5. The win sealed Morocco’s top position in Group E.
Ismael Saibari opened the scoring with two first-half goals, capitalizing on Niger’s early setback after Abdul-Latif Goumey was sent off. In the second half, Ayoub El Kaabi, Hamza Igamane, and Azzedine Ounahi added further goals to complete the emphatic triumph.
This victory marked Morocco’s sixth consecutive win, lifting them to 18 points—eight clear of second-placed Tanzania—and confirmed their qualification for their seventh World Cup appearance with two matches still remaining.
The Atlas Lions will be aiming to match or surpass their historic 2022 run in Qatar, where they became the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, notably defeating Spain and Portugal before falling 2-0 to eventual champions France.
Only Ounahi from the scorers against Niger was part of that 2022 squad, with coach Walid Regragui introducing fresh talent including PSV Eindhoven’s Saibari.
