Morocco’s futsal team is back on home soil, and this time the mission is very simple: win Africa again.
The Atlas Lions begin their Futsal AFCON title defence in Rabat against Algeria, with Morocco chasing a fourth consecutive continental crown.
That run is already kind of ridiculous.
Morocco won the tournament in 2016, 2020 and 2024, turning itself into the team everyone else in Africa is trying to catch.
Now they get to defend that status in front of a home crowd.
Coach Hicham Dguig has once again built the squad around experienced names including Soufiane El Mesrar, Soufiane Borite and Soufiane Charraoui, players who already know exactly what this tournament feels like when the pressure starts rising.
And futsal pressure comes fast.
The pitch is smaller, the game moves quicker and one mistake can turn into a goal almost instantly.
That is also what makes this team so fun to watch.
Morocco’s rise in futsal has been one of the country’s strongest sporting stories over the past decade, even if it still does not get anywhere near the attention football receives.
The Atlas Lions are no longer showing up hoping to surprise people.
They are showing up as defending champions.
Which means every opponent wants to be the team that finally stops the streak.
Three titles in a row already sounds like dominance.
A fourth would turn it into something even harder to ignore.
Morocco has the trophy.
Now everyone else has to try to take it.
