GENEVA (AP) – Morocco has received permission from FIFA to select Fulham defender Issa Diop and Ajax midfielder Rayanu Bounida from a list of seven players it recruited this month. 2022 World Cup semi-finalists first next edition In North America, a total of 16 times since March of last year.
Diop, 29, comes from France’s youth ranks and has represented Under-21s, while Bouneda is one of six players under the age of 20 who will change their eligibility to represent Morocco this month after playing youth games in Belgium and the Netherlands.
All have direct family ties to Morocco and are allowed to change international eligibility within FIFA rules, usually only if the international player has not played a senior competitive match in his first country.
Diop and Bounida appear New coach Mohamed Ouabi The squad for the World Cup warm-up games against Ecuador in Madrid on Friday and Paraguay in Reims, France, on Tuesday has been announced.
For the 2026 World Cup, Morocco will be in the same group as Brazil, Scotland and Haiti, with matches to be played in New York, near Boston and Atlanta, respectively.
Morocco now allows direct entry 2030 tournament co-sponsor In addition to matches against Spain and Portugal, single matches will also be held in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Under the guidance of the Moroccan Football Federation, Fawzi Recjar, an increasingly influential figure In soccer politics, we have actively recruited players from the European diaspora.
The team that made World Cup history in Qatar as the first African team to reach the semi-finals included former Dutch youth international stars Hakim Ziyech and Sofian Amrabat.
The eligibility changes approved by FIFA in March also include Bunida and former Belgium international Genk midfielder Saif Edian Lazare.
The players who transferred from the Netherlands to Morocco were 18-year-olds Benjamin Kaderi and Sami Bouhdan from PSV Eindhoven, 20-year-old Utrecht defender Oarid Aguir, and 18-year-old Ayud Wargui from Feyenoord.
FIFA also approved the eligibility changes of nine more players from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway between March and December last year.
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