Best and Worst Case Scenarios for Morocco Ahead of 2026 World Cup Draw
Football fans will turn their attention tomorrow, Friday, starting at 18:00 (GMT+1), to Washington D.C., USA, where the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will host the draw ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For the first time in history, the tournament will feature 48 participating teams.
The Moroccan national team, who finished fourth at the Qatar 2022 edition, enters this draw in Pot 2, based on the latest FIFA rankings.
This ranking prevents the "Atlas Lions" from an early clash with other strong teams in the same pot, but it inevitably places them against one of the top seeds from Pot 1. It is also important to note that Morocco cannot face another African team in the group stage.
Pot 1: USA - Mexico - Canada (Host Nations) - Spain - Argentina - France - Brazil - England - Portugal - Netherlands - Belgium - Germany.
Pot 2: Morocco - Croatia - Senegal - Iran - Uruguay - Colombia - South Korea - Ecuador - Switzerland - Austria - Japan - Australia.
Pot 3: Norway - Panama - Ivory Coast - Uzbekistan - Scotland - Paraguay - South Africa - Qatar - Egypt - Algeria - Tunisia - Saudi Arabia.
Pot 4: Jordan - Cape Verde - Ghana - Curaçao - Haiti - New Zealand - European Play-off Qualifiers (4 teams) - Intercontinental Play-off Qualifiers (2 teams).
1. The Dream Group (Best-Case Scenario for Morocco)
Expected Group: Canada – Morocco – Panama – New Zealand.
In this scenario, the draw would favor Morocco by avoiding European and South American giants from Pot 1, giving them more manageable opponents from Pots 3 and 4.
From Pot 1: Canada (the lowest-ranked and historically weakest top seed compared to the others).
From Pot 3: Panama or Uzbekistan (avoiding strong European teams and playing against less experienced footballing nations).
From Pot 4: New Zealand or Haiti (opponents with a modest footballing pedigree compared to the European play-off teams).
2. The Group of Death (Worst-Case Scenario)
Expected Group: Argentina – Morocco – Norway – Italy (or a European play-off qualifier).
The draw could place Morocco in an early fiery test, especially since Pot 4 contains "landmines" in the form of European play-off qualifiers.
From Pot 1: France, Spain, or Portugal (facing a direct title contender).
From Pot 3: Norway (led by Erling Haaland) or Scotland (very physical and well-organized teams).
From Pot 4: Italy (if they qualify via the European play-offs and are placed in this pot) or another strong European team like Sweden/Turkey.
