The wait that followed was long and full of near things: third in 1980, fourth as hosts in 1988, and a run to the 2004 final in Tunisia — 14 goals in six matches — that ended in a 2–1 defeat by the hosts. At four successive tournaments between 2006 and 2013 Morocco went no further than the group stage, and in 2019 an unbeaten group campaign ended in a round-of-16 shoot-out against Benin.
Morocco 2025 changed the scale of the story. Brahim Díaz scored in each of the hosts’ first five matches and took the Golden Boot; Yassine Bounou kept five clean sheets in seven games and saved two penalties in the semi-final shoot-out against Nigeria, sending Morocco to their first final in 22 years. That final in Rabat is still not settled: Senegal won it 1–0 after extra time on the pitch, but on 17 March 2026 CAF’s Appeal Board declared that Senegal had forfeited and recorded a 3–0 Morocco win. Senegal have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which set a hearing for 8 October 2026 and has not said when it will decide.
Walid Regragui stepped down after the tournament, and in March 2026 the federation turned to Mohamed Ouahbi, who had led Morocco’s under-20s to the U-20 World Cup title in Chile. His road to East Africa runs through Group A — Gabon, Niger and Lesotho — with the top two qualifying. Qualifying begins on 24 September 2026; Morocco host Gabon in Rabat the next day.