Not only does the team have ambitions, but for the North African kingdom the tournament is also the next step on a path that has long been announced: the country wants to take on a leading role in Africa. Economically anyway, but especially in football. The Africa Cup, which will take place in six Moroccan cities until the final on January 18th, is only a small component of this. There are bigger things at stake, including in football: Morocco will host the World Cup in 2030 together with its neighboring countries Spain and Portugal.
The goal is then very clear: Morocco wants to be the first African team to become world champions. You see yourself as being well on your way there. Reaching the 2022 World Cup semi-finals in Qatar is seen as more than just a sign that this success is not far away.
The course was set a few years ago to take on the leading football role in Africa – at the royal behest. As a first step, many millions of US dollars flowed into the systematic development of football in the country. A funding program that is unique in Africa has been implemented since 2010. With the Mohammed VI Football Academy at its heart, a state-of-the-art training center was created. At royal expense, space has been created there for 50 young footballers who will receive a full scholarship with football and school training.
“We want hospitals, not football stadiums”
The academy, which is located on a 2.5 square kilometer area in Sallé, an outskirts of the capital Rabat, is structurally based on Moroccan cultural heritage. The shape resembles a traditional douar – a settlement with a central village square surrounded by five buildings. Each building serves a specific function: accommodation, education, medical facility and canteen.
A school with ten classrooms as well as a language and IT room offers a three-stage program for trainees. Embedded in the facility are four stadiums built according to the guidelines of the world football association FIFA, as well as an artificial turf field, a small pitch, four changing rooms and a special training area for goalkeepers.
The first trainees in the academy were brought together from the region around Rabat in 2010 and were systematically supported from then on. The site was also used as a permanent campus for training camps for the men’s and women’s national teams. Similar systems were subsequently built in Agadir, Tangier and Saidia by 2015.
The first center near Rabat cost the equivalent of around 33 million euros. Morocco then invested many times more in the new construction and renovation of a total of nine stadiums with a view to the Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup.
This is all just for football, which has particularly attracted the younger population of the kingdom. “No World Cup, health comes first” and “We want hospitals, not football stadiums” were chanted by demonstrators from the “Generation Z” movement in October, which shook Morocco for a few days. “GenZ has swept over Morocco like a huge tidal wave,” wrote the Moroccan daily newspaper “Atalayar”.
Experts warn of an educational crisis
Reports and estimates come to different conclusions regarding the amount of investments. They will be somewhere between two and three billion euros. Many of the young people feel that this prioritization of spending is unfair because in some regions of Morocco there are not even hospitals. The public education system is also ailing.
Anyone who has money sends their children to private schools in Morocco. The majority cannot afford this, so many students learn in overcrowded classes and dilapidated school buildings. Education experts like Azeddine Akesbi from the University of Rabat have been warning about an education emergency for years. The number of school dropouts and illiterates among young people is very high. Girls in rural areas are often particularly affected.
King Mohammed VI partially agreed with the demonstrators and promised improvements. Ultimately, the Moroccan king always has the last word when it comes to important decisions in the country. Although the day-to-day affairs of Morocco are led by an elected parliamentary government, when it comes to far-reaching foreign policy decisions and resolutions, the judgment of Mohammed VI counts.
Incidentally, the “GenZ” demonstrations in Morocco were over as suddenly as they had flared up. At least in the capital Rabat, they were seamlessly replaced by celebrations after a football success: When the U-20 national team returned from Chile in mid-October with the World Cup title in their pocket, they were greeted by tens of thousands of cheering people.
Enormous development of the women’s national team
The results of the football investments cannot be overlooked: There was the enormous development of the women’s national team, which qualified for a World Cup for the first time in 2023 and came second at the African Championships in 2022 and 2025. Finally, the U-20 team recently triumphed at the 2025 World Cup in Chile, when Morocco’s youngsters surprisingly secured the title.
The players on the U-20 World Cup team, which beat Brazil, Spain, France and Argentina in the final, were all trained at the academy in Salé, just outside Rabat. At the latest after the Africa Cup, which is primarily contested by the “old guard”, they will form the core of the Moroccan national team. They are already highly sought after internationally.
World Cup top scorer Yassir Zabiri, midfielder Othmane Maamma and left winger Ilias Boumassaoudi have found themselves in the sights of the biggest European clubs, and goalkeeper Ibrahim Gomis and defender Taha Majni should also be able to choose from many interested club teams in the next few years. However, they will still be among the many spectators at the upcoming opening game against the underdogs from the Comoros. They all expect the same thing in Morocco: their team winning the title. As a foretaste for 2030.
