Morocco coach Walid Regragui said he wants his team to break “the curse of the African Cup” as he named his 27-man squad for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday.
It is 47 years since Morocco last won the continental competition, but after reaching the semifinals of the World Cup in Qatar last year, it is now one of the favourites to win the title in Ivory Coast.
“The more African competitions take place, the further away we get from the date when we won it,” said Regragui.
“But that’s no reason to put pressure on ourselves. We’re going to go there to play our football, to give it the maximum, and, above all, not to have regrets.”
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Since winning the cup in 1976, Morocco has only reached the final once, in 2004 when it lost to host Tunisia.
At the last edition in Cameroon in 2022, it lost to Egypt in the quarterfinals.
“What is important is the state of mind,” said Regragui.
“We must go there with complete confidence to overcome the curse of the African Cup.”
Regragui has retained the bulk of his World Cup squad, who beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal before falling to a 2-0 defeat by France in the semis, including Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Manchester United midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.
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But he has also brought in younger talents -- for “good balance between the present and the future”, he said -- such as PSV’s Ismael Saibari and Real Betis defender Chadi Riad, who won this year’s Under-23 AFCON.
The Atlas Lions will face DR Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia in the group stages when the tournament gets underway on January 13.
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