At least six members of Morocco’s 2026 World Cup squad are expected to miss Mohamed Ouahbi’s next selection, while four players could receive their first or latest call-ups for the opening matches of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Morocco’s squad announcement is scheduled for next week, on 17 September, according to Atlas | Comps. The daily newspaper Assabah reports that Ouahbi has provisionally left out at least six players who were part of the national team at the 2026 World Cup.
Three of those players are unavailable because of serious injuries. Chadi Riad of Crystal Palace and Youssef Belammari of Al Ahly have both undergone surgery on ruptured cruciate ligaments, while Olympiakos forward Ayoub El Kaabi is recovering from a fractured tibia.
All three are considered likely to miss the remainder of the season.
The other three expected absentees are Marwan Saadane of Al-Fateh, Anass Salah-Eddine of AS Roma and Redouane Halhal of Venezia. Their omission is reportedly linked to a lack of preparation rather than injury.
Ouahbi is instead strongly considering four newcomers or returning players: Younes Ebnoutalib of Eintracht Frankfurt, Yassir Zabiri of Racing Santander, Othmane Maamma of Watford and Omar El Hilali of Espanyol.
For Ebnoutalib and Zabiri, a first senior Morocco call-up would reward impressive starts to the season. Ebnoutalib particularly caught the manager’s attention on 29 August, when he scored a hat-trick in front of Ouahbi during the coach’s European tour.
Maamma has already been involved around the national team. He was included in the provisional squad for Morocco’s World Cup warm-up match against Burundi in late May, when Morocco won 5-0. The player, named the best player at the most recent Under-20 World Cup, supplied an assist in that match but did not make the final World Cup squad.
El Hilali, meanwhile, could return to the Morocco set-up after an 11-month wait. The left-back has not been part of the red-and-green squad since October 2025, although he did not play during that international window.
There is still no official confirmation of any call-up. According to insider Youssef, no player has yet received a formal invitation, with only the 50-man preliminary lists believed to have been sent out.
Morocco will begin their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Gabon on 25 September in Rabat. They will then face Lesotho on 29 September in Bloemfontein, South Africa.