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The Atlas Lions star has her feet on solid ground
Morocco national team goalkeeper Yassin Bounou has said the quality of players in his squad will inspire them as they begin their 2026 World Cup campaign on Sunday 14 June.
The Atlas Lions will face their Brazilian counterpart in the opening match at MetLife Stadium.
In addition to Brazil, Morocco will face Haiti and Scotland in Group C.
Morocco has qualified for the World Cup finals seven times in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, 2022 and 2026.
Their best performance came at the 2022 World Cup, when they finished fourth, becoming the first African and Arab country to reach the semi-finals.
The Moroccan quality is still there
Ahead of his return for 2026, the experienced Bono, who will lead the team, is confident the Atlas Lions will do well as he told the FIFA website: “The quality of the players is still there.”
He added: “The right mindset will also be there because it’s a World Cup and every player dreams of it. For some, this may be the last World Cup, and for others, it is the first.”
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Our team will meet Norway tomorrow in the last friendly match before the World Cup
@
Tomorrow our national team will meet Norway in the last friendly match #fifaworldcup 🌍🏆⏰ |: 20:00 🇲🇦 – 15:00 🇺🇸#DimaMaghrib pic.twitter.com/r0vGkVDTCj
— Team Morocco (@EnMaroc) June 6, 2026
“Let’s be honest. there are teams that are more likely to win than us. We, for our part, have been on this path of progress since 2022, so let’s try to keep it going. After that, it’s impossible to predict how far we can go.”
Bono added: “We feel we still have respect and that should give us confidence. I think there’s a sense of belief that we haven’t felt before as an African team.”
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Morocco decided to make history
Speaking about the 2022 Qatar edition, Bono, who plays for Saudi club Al-Hilal, said: “At 2022, the atmosphere was really great. We were all determined to leave our mark on Moroccan and African football history.”
Bono backed off a bit. In the last 37 matches of the national team, the “Al Hilal” player conceded only 14 times, with an average of 0.37 goals per game.
The former star of “Seville” continued. “Maybe because of my experience I’m more mentally prepared. My main goal is to take part in competitions with a real sense of pleasure, to do my best and, above all, to have no regrets.”
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“At the 2026 World Cup, Morocco will once again make its mark on world football. I’m sure the Moroccan people will be proud of the team and happy with it. Hopefully we can achieve something really big again like we did in 2022,” Bono concluded.
The Moroccan team appeared on the world stage for the first time at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. Despite being knocked out in the group stage, he managed a respectable 1-1 draw against Bulgaria and proved his ability to compete with top football teams.
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