At the World Cup, Morocco have been drawn into a strong group with Spain, Portugal and Iran, but the African team will have their own trump cards in Russia. Probably even one of the world’s most prolific goalscorers Cristiano Ronaldo will face problems against the defense of the Atlas Lions, who conceded just one goal in eight qualification matches.

Back after 20 years

Equatorial Guinea’s Rui, who plays for Malta’s Hibernians on a club level, takes pride in being the only footballer to have scored against Morocco during the World Cup qualification. The Atlas Lions opened their campaign in the second round and beat the Guineans 2:0 at home before losing 1:0 away, and that was enough to go through. And in the third round, placed in the group with Ivory Coast, Gabon and Mali, the team coached by Herve Renard did not concede any goals at all. With three wins and as many 0:0 draws in six matches, Morocco finished top of the group with 12 points. Everything was decided in the last match day in Ivory Coast, whose team had a chance to climb to the top spot in case of a victory. The Atlas Lions needed a draw, but they won 2:0 and claimed their first ticket to the World Cup in the 21th century. Previously, Morocco has taken part in the competition four times, most recently in 1998.

Benatia is the key figure

The man to watch in the team’s defensive line is certainly Medhi Benatia, who is actually the captain of the Atlas Lions. The 31-year-old, who was born in France to a Moroccan father and an Algerian mother, used to play for Marseille, Udinese, Roma and Bayern in the past, and now he is at Juventus. Benatia is a tall and physically strong center back, who does not only have great defensive skills, but can play with the ball well and starts the attacking moves. He is also known for being ouеspoken - last December, an Italian-French journalist said after the draw that Morocco had no chance against Spain, and his words made Benatia really angry. “Why doesn’t he shut up… He has never even played football,” Medhi wrote on Twitter.

And in the spring of 2017, Benatia dropped himself from the national team, as he did not play at Juventus during that period and thought that he was not competitive enough to play for his country. However, the hiatus did not last long, and soon Mehdi resumed his international career and helped Morocco to qualify for the World Cup.

Practically all the team’s key defenders are tall and physical. While Benatia’s height is 189 cm, the vice-captain Manuel Da Costa is 194, Romain Saiss is 190, Nabil Dirar is 187. Most of them play in reputable European clubs - in particular, Dirar moved last year to Fenerbahce after five years at Monaco, Saiss is at Wolverhampton, and the 19-year-old Achraf Hakimi, born in Spain to Moroccan parents, is a product of Real Madrid youth system. The promising right back has already made his debut for the club in La Liga and become a regular starter in the national team.

Spain-based goalies

Of course the goalkeeper Mounir Mohamedi should be mentioned as well, as Renard usually preferred him to Yassine Bounou, at least during the World Cup qualification. Both are hardly international stars, but have proved to be reliable players, and both actually defend the colours of Spanish clubs - Mohamedi at Numancia, Bounou at Girona.

Obviously there are good players in team’s other lines - Mbark Boussoufa, Karim El Ahmadi and Younes Belhanda play the key roles in midfield, while Hakim Ziyech and Ayoub El Kaabi are responsible for scoring goals. Yet it was the back line that really stood out during the qualification - especially considering that it is not typical for African sides to have a solid defence. But the French coach Renard, who led Zambia to winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012, should be credited for making the Atlas Lions more organised and disciplined. Obviously the team will try to demonstrate these qualities once again in Russia against the world-class attackers.