TEAM PROFILE: Morocco return to first continental competition in two years

 

RABAT (Morocco) -  There was a time that Morocco deservedly sat among the top-ten national teams in Africa, but unexpectedly things went wrong and they plummeted in the FIBA Rankings. 

They haven't competed at continental level since July 2021.

What next for Morocco? The AfroCan is the platform Morocco need to return to their glory days.

Morocco's intentions of trying to recover their top-ten team status became clear when they announced a preliminary squad that includes many familiar names, some of whom helped Morocco finish fourth at the 2017 FIBA AfroBasket co-hosted by Senegal and Tunisia.

Find below some useful information about this Morocco national team:

Team: Morocco

FIBA Ranking Men: 83rd in the world; (15th in Africa)

Last participation at the AfroCan: 2019

Best result at the AfroCan: Fourth-Place

How they qualified for the 2023 AfroCan: Morocco qualified automatically to the 2023 FIBA AfroCan by reaching the Semi-Finals of the last edition of the tournament held in Bamako in Mali. They finished fourth.

Africa: The last time Morocco appeared in a continental competition they faced a do-or-die encounter, but the 77-65 home loss against Uganda in the 2021 FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers at Salle El Bouazzaoui in Salé, ended Morocco's chances of competing against the best teams in Africa.

Morocco not only closed AfroBasket Qualifiers with a shocking 1-5 mark, but they also missed out on the AfroBasket for the first time  after ten straight appearances in the tournament dating back to 1999. 

And when the latest FIBA World Rankings presented by NIKE was last updated on February 27th, 2023, Morocco had dropped six more places to currently rank 15th in Africa, well below the No. 8 that they boasted in early 2018.

Star player: There is a number of Moroccan players to watch out for at AfroCan, according to the preliminary squad released over the weekend. The likes of Mohamed Choua, Abdelali Lahrichi, Hamza Foulali, Abdelhakim Zouita (2017 FIBA Africa Champions Cup MVP), Soufiane Kourdou and Mostafa Khalfi, who all have years of African basketball success and experience are set to shine in Luanda.

But, it's the addition of Kevin Frenceschi that dominates the headlines the most. Frenceschi not only played a huge role in helping FUS clinch the 2022-23 Moroccan League title, but he was also named MVP of the season.

Head Coach: Labib El Hamrani isn't really a new face at the helm of the Moroccan national team. He has had several assistant coaches jobs with Morocco.

Labib El Hamrani (first from the right - top row ) 

In June 2021, El Hamrani replaced Naoufal Uariachi after a challenging First Round of the AfroBasket Qualifiers. At the time of his appointment as Morocco head coach, El Hamrani had become the team's third head coach over the previous four years after his fellow Moroccans Said El Bouzidi and Naoufal Uariachi.

Outlook: The 2023 AfroCan comes as huge challenge for Morocco, who desperately hope to become the team that not so long ago upset continental heavyweights Angola during the AfroBasket 2017 and in the first round of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup African Qualifiers in Cairo, Egypt.

Morocco finished fourth at 2017 FIBA AfroBasket - their best result since a third-place achieved in 1980

Whichever group of players coach El Hamrani selects for the Final Round in Angola next week, this is could be one of the most experienced squads in the tournament. The core of the team has been playing together for over a decade, and this could a plus for a team that lost to Angola twice at the 2019 FIBA AfroCan in Bamako to finish in fourth place.

Morocco will take on Tunisia and Rwanda in Group A, which means they couldn't have asked for a tougher return to a continental competition.

FIBA