Morocco coach Walid Regragui called up Chelsea forward Hakim Ziyech and Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi for his World Cup squad on Thursday, less than two weeks before it kicks off against Croatia.
“We worked hard on this list with the staff, it’s the best possible line-up to defend our colours,” Regragui told journalists in Rabat.
He admitted that some players would be disappointed at being left out, but said the team wanted to do “something big”.
“We’re hoping that every Moroccan will be behind us and support us,” he said.
Ziyech, 29, returns for the Atlas Lions despite having announced his retirement from international football amid a dispute with former coach Vahid Halilhodzic.
Morocco World Cup squad
But Halilhodzic, who had also sidelined Noussair Mazraoui for disciplinary reasons and qualified for the World Cup without them, left his job in August over what the national federation called “differences of opinion”.
That set up a return by former Morocco defender Regragui, just three months ahead of the tournament in Qatar.
He will be attempting to lead the football-obsessed nation to its best World Cup result since 1986, when it became the first African country to get past the opening round.
Morocco is in Group F and will face off with 2018 runner-up Croatia, Belgium and Canada.
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