Morocco have emerged as one of Africa’s most successful football nations on the FIFA World Cup stage. While the Atlas Lions had several memorable appearances in previous decades, they made global history in 2022 by becoming the first African nation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals. Here, we explore Morocco’s complete stage-wise FIFA World Cup history and finishing records.
Morocco FIFA World Cup Last Exit from Each Stage
🏆 Last Champions Finish: Never
🥈 Last Runners-up Finish: Never
🥉 Last Third Place Finish: Never
🔷 Last Fourth Place Finish: 2022
🔶 Last Semi-final Exit: 2022
🔹 Last Quarter-final Exit: 2026
🟩 Last Round of 16 Exit: 1986
🟣 Last Round of 32 Exit: Never
🟨 Last Second Group Stage Exit: Never
🟥 Last First Group Stage Exit: 2018
Morocco FIFA World Cup Records by Stage Finishes
🥇 Champions: Never
🥈 Runners-up: Never
🥉 Third Place: Never
4️⃣ Fourth Place: 2022
🔶 Semi-finals: 2022
🟦 Quarter-finals: 2026
🟩 Round of 16: 1986
🟣 Round of 32: Never
🟨 Second Group Stage: Never
🟥 First Group Stage/Only Group Stage: 1970, 1994, 1998, 2018
Interesting Morocco FIFA World Cup Records and Facts
- Since making their FIFA World Cup debut in 1970, Morocco have become one of Africa’s most consistent World Cup participants.
- Morocco’s first appearance in the FIFA World Cup knockout stage came in 1986, becoming the first African nation to top a World Cup group.
- Morocco became the first African country to qualify for the World Cup Round of 16, as they achieved it in the 1986 edition.
- Morocco became the first African nation to reach the FIFA World Cup semi-finals after their historic run in 2022.
- They were also the first African country to win a World Cup knockout match outside Africa, defeating Spain on penalties in the Round of 16 in 2022.
Morocco FIFA World Cup Best Performance
Morocco produced one of the greatest underdog stories in FIFA World Cup history during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. After topping a difficult group containing Croatia, Belgium, and Canada, they eliminated Spain in the Round of 16 and Portugal in the Quarterfinals before losing to France in the semi-finals. Morocco later finished fourth after the third-place play-off, officially recording their best-ever World Cup finish and making history as Africa’s first semi-finalist.