By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
ANKARA
Participating in the FIFA World Cup for the fifth time in its history, Morocco will play against Spain, Portugal and Iran in Group B.
The Lions of the Atlas were undefeated in their qualifying matches against Gabon, Ivory Coast and Mali to book their ticket to Russia 2018.
Morocco's Turkish league players are Nabil Dirar of Fenerbahce, Younes Belhanda of Galatasaray, Khalid Boutaib of Yeni Malatyaspor and Manuel da Costa of Medipol Basaksehir.
The team also includes veteran stars like Mehdi Benatia from Juventus and Nordin Amrabat who plays for Leganes in La Liga.
Qualified for the World Cup final stage in 1970, 1986, 1994 and 1998, Morocco's best performance came in 1986 when they advanced to the Round of 16, losing to West Germany 1-0.
Confirmed 23-men squad of Morocco:
Goalkeepers: Mounir El Kajoui (Numancia), Yassine Bounou (Girona), Ahmed Tagnaouti (Ittihad Tanger)
Defenders: Mehdi Benatia (Juventus), Romain Saiss (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Manuel Da Costa (Medipol Basaksehir), Nabil Dirar (Fenerbahce), Achraf Hakimi (Real Madrid), Hamza Mendyl (Lille)
Midfielders: M'bark Boussoufa (Al-Jazeera), Karim El Ahmadi (Feyenoord), Youssef Ait Bennasser (Caen), Sofyan Amrabat (Feyenoord), Younes Belhanda (Galatasaray), Faycal Fajr (Getafe), Amine Harit (Schalke 04)
Forwards: Khalid Boutaib (Evkur Yeni Malatyaspor), Aziz Bouhaddouz (St. Pauli), Ayoub El Kaabi (Renaissance Berkane), Nordin Amrabat (Leganes), Mehdi Carcela (Standard de Liege), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax), Youssef En Nesyri (Malaga)
Manager: Herve Renard
