Why So Many of Europe’s Best Young Players Choose Morocco

When the national anthems play before the World Cup 2026 quarter-final between Morocco and France, it will be no surprise if TV cameras linger a little longer on Ayyoub Bouaddi.

The 18-year-old has been one of the breakout stars of this tournament, showing remarkable technical ability and composure in midfield — particularly during a dominant performance in a 1-1 draw with Brazil in the group stage. Extra intrigue comes from him being born in France and having represented that country at youth level as recently as March this year, before deciding to switch allegiance approximately a month before the World Cup began.

The even more interesting detail is that Bouaddi’s case is far from unique.

The Scale of Morocco’s Recruitment

Morocco’s 26-strong squad for World Cup 2026 contains 19 players born outside the North African country — in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium or Canada — all eligible through their family backgrounds.

Morocco are far from the first nation to call upon a global diaspora, nor do they have the highest proportion of overseas-born players at this World Cup — Curaçao’s 26-man squad featured only one player from the Caribbean island itself, with most having grown up in the Netherlands. But Morocco’s strategic, systematic approach to recruitment — and how it has transformed their footballing fortunes — is what makes their case stand out.

The System Behind the Strategy

The turning point came in 2014, with the arrival of new leadership at the Moroccan Football Association. Fouzi Lekjaa — still the body’s president today — systemised what had previously been an informal process by establishing a specific department for scouting and liaising with diaspora players. This aligned with wider government priorities. Morocco had featured in the 1998 World Cup in France — with two overseas-born players in a 22-man squad, and were eliminated at the group stage — but had failed to qualify since. The country’s authorities wanted to increase their standing in the global game.

“Football in Morocco is important on a political and social level, as a matter of state,” one Moroccan FA source told The Athletic.

Lekjaa also holds the status of a government minister in Morocco, with the ability to influence public funding. Over $65 million (£48.6m) has been invested in the state-of-the-art King Mohammed VI Football Academy near Rabat.

The department established under then technical director Nasser Larguet is now run by Rabie Takassa, who coordinates a team of seven scouts based across Europe.

“We have a database of all Moroccan players in Europe, updated every year,” Takassa explains. “We start identifying them at eight or nine years old. We monitor them and add them when they are 12 or 13. Currently, across all age groups, we have nearly 3,000 players included.”

Personal contact at an early stage is a priority. “We approach those with potential for development to reach the international under-15 level to explain the project and try to bring them on board,” Takassa says. “We open lines of communication with their family and those close to them. We only talk about the sporting side of things, how we’re organised and our facilities. We show them videos. It has everything — it’s one of the best in the world. Anyone coming from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester City wouldn’t notice the difference.”

From Qualification to Credibility

The recruitment effort gained meaningful momentum when Morocco finally requalified for the World Cup in 2018, with a squad including French-born defender Romain Saiss, Madrid-born full-back Achraf Hakimi and Dutch-born midfielder Sofyan Amrabat.

Then came Qatar 2022 — a semi-final run with 14 overseas-born players, making Morocco the first African nation to reach that stage of a World Cup. At World Cup 2026, that number has increased to 19.

“The level of play also influences things,” Takassa acknowledges. “There were players who hadn’t agreed to join us because, back then, we didn’t regularly qualify for the World Cup or get very far in the tournament. Their agents would advise them to choose another national team.”

The Brahim Diaz Story

Among the most high-profile recruitment cases in the current squad is Real Madrid playmaker Brahim Diaz. Born in Málaga, Spain, he was eligible for Morocco through his paternal grandmother.

Changes to FIFA rules in 2009 meant his earlier Spain appearance was no obstacle — players can switch national teams provided they have not made a senior competitive appearance.

Regragui maintained regular contact throughout the process, visiting Brahim multiple times in Madrid. Lekjaa was also directly involved, alongside what sources described as “some very important figures in Morocco.”

At World Cup 2026, Brahim has started all five of Morocco’s matches. Only France’s Michael Olise, with five, has more assists in the competition than Brahim’s four.

“This tournament has been a dream,” Brahim said on Spanish radio station Cope following the victory over Canada — echoing, almost word for word, his reaction to his Spain debut five years earlier.

The Bouaddi Coup

Bouaddi’s case represents another landmark success for Morocco — and a significant loss for France.

“It’s his choice,” French FA technical director Hubert Fournier told The Athletic. “We couldn’t offer him the opportunity to go to the World Cup right now.”

Bouaddi spent two years at France’s famed Clairefontaine academy — whose graduates include Kylian Mbappé and Thierry Henry — and represented the nation of his birth at various youth levels up to the under-21s. He then starred for Lille in the 2025-26 Champions League at just 18 years old. Yet even that level of performance was unlikely to force his way into a France squad of exceptional midfield depth — such is their talent pool that there was no room for Eduardo Camavinga, a two-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid.

“We couldn’t offer him the opportunity to go to the World Cup right now,” Fournier added plainly.

Morocco’s recruitment team began working on Bouaddi long before it became a public conversation.

“It’s been a process that began a long time ago, an absolute priority,” a Moroccan FA source said. “We’re talking about one of the greatest talents of his generation.”

The decisive push came in March this year, when Lekjaa and head coach Mohamed Ouahbi — himself born in Belgium to Moroccan parents — travelled to Lille to meet the player and his family. Sources familiar with the process say Ouahbi pressed a lot of the right buttons during those conversations. Lille chairman Olivier Letang also visited Morocco and spoke directly with Lekjaa.

When Bouaddi was named in Ouahbi’s World Cup 2026 squad in May, he posted a picture on Instagram of himself aged 10, wearing a Morocco shirt at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Sources close to Bouaddi say the teenager is proud of his dual nationality and grateful to France — while noting that both his parents are Moroccan and that he spent his holidays there throughout his childhood.

The One That Got Away: Lamine Yamal

Morocco’s recruitment record is impressive, but not unblemished. Their biggest miss was Lamine Yamal.

The Moroccan FA was well aware of Yamal’s potential while he was emerging at Barcelona’s La Masia academy. Spain moved faster. Yamal was fast-tracked into their senior setup within months of his La Liga debut — at 15 — in April 2023. He was 16 years and 57 days old when he became Spain’s youngest-ever player, scoring on his debut in a 7-1 Euro 2024 qualifying win against Georgia.

“Days before Yamal made his decision, Regragui was with him in Barcelona to speak at length about the football project,” Lekjaa told Al Jazeera. “We spoke with his father, and he visited Morocco on many occasions. I received them personally. We respect the choice of any other player.”

Yamal’s father was born in Morocco. His mother was born in Equatorial Guinea. His connection to Morocco has been a recurring point of conversation throughout World Cup 2026 — he told Spanish radio he had bet on Morocco to beat the Netherlands in the round of 32. He also addressed anti-Muslim chanting by Spain fans during a friendly against Egypt in Barcelona in March, stating it did not make him regret his choice of international allegiance.

“I’ve no regrets, I’d still choose Spain,” he told Cadena Ser.

The focus on Yamal and other Spanish-born players — including Brahim and Hakimi — will intensify if Spain and Morocco both progress past their quarter-finals to meet in the semi-finals. The two countries are also co-hosting the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal, with an ongoing public and private contest over where the final of that tournament will be staged.

Who Morocco’s Players Really Are

Takassa is clear-eyed about how the narrative around Morocco’s overseas-born players is sometimes framed — and he pushes back firmly.

“Some media outlets reported we had 11 ‘foreigners’ against Brazil,” he says. “That is not correct. They are Moroccans who were born abroad, but they are Moroccans. You can only talk about naturalisation when a player was not born in Morocco and neither of their parents were either. We have no such cases. Both parents of most of our players were born in Morocco, and for the rest, one of their parents was.”

“It’s important that the player lives in a Moroccan environment, with Moroccan traditions,” Takassa adds. “This doesn’t mean they aren’t integrated into the country where they live. That sense of identification with and adherence to Moroccan traditions, and their desire to come here, isn’t because they haven’t integrated into their host countries.”

The international futures of other promising young dual-eligible players — such as Madrid’s 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Pitarch, currently representing Spain at the Under-19 European Championship — are still to be decided. Morocco will be watching closely.

Read More: Four Years Ago Morocco Wanted Respect. Now They Want Revenge.

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