Morocco will be aiming for first place in Group C when they face Haiti for the first time at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday morning.
Though they lag the five-time world champions on goal differential in second place, the Atlas Lions are tied with Brazil on four points heading into the last round of group games.
Before recording their first group victory with a 1-0 victory over Scotland six days later, Mohamed Ouahbi’s team drew a disappointing Canarinho 1-1 in their 2026 World Cup opener on June 14.
Since the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, the North Africans have drawn with Ecuador (1-1) and Norway (1-1), defeated Paraguay (2-1), Burundi (5-0) and Madagascar (4-0) to maintain their perfect record over their previous seven games.
Still, knowing full well that the Grenadiers will be driven to get their first-ever points at the international event, Ouahbi is not going to underestimate them. In his pre-match news conference, he added, “My preference is to beat Haiti and finish ahead of Brazil in the group.”
“Though it might also be Japan, but even then, France or Argentina, there is talk we might play next against the Netherlands, but it is not anything we are thinking about.
Though we probably already possess the necessary skills, we still want to defeat Haiti and so mean to field our greatest team in the game. Though there are still certain considerations before we decide, we could start with the same starting line-up.
“Haiti will be entirely driven since it is a World Cup match, and they will be aiming to get the first points of the competition. We will need to be careful of this. Long before the World Cup, we have been studying them; they are an excellent team; thus, we must be patient.”
With their only other appearance dating all the way back to 1974, the Caribbean team have waited a long time to play on the biggest stage again.
In their first match, Sebastien Migne’s team fought Scotland hard, but ultimately lost 1-0 on account of John McGinn’s 28th-minute goal.
Haiti’s elimination was confirmed on June 20 following a 3-0 reverse to the Brazilians, leaving them without any goals at the spectacle in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
