Paris 2024 football: Morocco a nation on the rise as men’s team eyes Olympic gold

Morocco is a football nation on the rise.

Over the last few years, the north African country has been on an unstoppable climb at major tournaments.

And it seems that has passed down to the Under-23s, who are doing their country proud at Paris 2024.

The Atlas Lions have broken new ground at these Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals for the first time in their history.

Getting out of the group stage alone was a first for this young side, but now they are two wins away from another major title and one away from a guaranteed medal.

Regardless of what happens for the remainder of this tournament, though, Morocco is on the up and they are here to stay.

• Morocco continues dream run by booking semi-final spot

Morocco’s commitment across all teams

The current crop of Moroccan players is referred to as the nation’s "second golden generation."

But that no longer extends solely to the senior team.

In fact, Morocco has made it their mission to ensure their commitment and investment spans across the women’s and youth teams, too.

One look at their recent performances in major tournaments is proof that such an approach has paid dividends.

A women’s World Cup debut for the Atlas Lionesses, an Under-23s Africa Cup of Nations title and of course that incredible 2022 men’s World Cup run from the men’s side.

What they are doing on the pitch is indicative of the growing talent in the squad, which is only set to improve with their continued nourishment of grassroots football.

But this is a nation endearing themselves to millions off the pitch, too.

Following the senior team’s miraculous run two years ago in Qatar, the players went on to donate their tournament earnings to charities in Morocco that support those affected by poverty.

That is an undeniable cause to root for their continued growth across the game.

Here is how the nation has fared over the last four years:

• 2020: Men’s African Nations Championship — champions
• 2022: FIFA Men’s World Cup — fourth place
• 2022: Women’s Africa Cup of Nations — runners-up
• 2023: FIFA Women’s World Cup — round of 16
• 2023: Under-23s Africa Cup of Nations — champions
• 2024: Under-23s Olympic men’s football — semi-finals, still playing

If this is what they can achieve in four years of continued investment and nourishing their respective sides, imagine where these sides could be in another four years' time.

Morocco at Paris 2024

The young Atlas Lions have been a tough opponent to face at the Games.

They kicked off their campaign with a dramatic 2-1 victory over former gold medal favourites Argentina, who boasted four World Cup winners in their ranks.

But three days later they were on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss to Ukraine, which left their campaign hanging in the balance.

Morocco needed a result in their final group game against Iraq — and they delivered it in style.

A thumping 3-0 victory was enough to secure safe passage out of the groups and into the quarter-finals.

It was the first time, since competing as Under-23s, that the African side had progressed beyond their groups.

But the history-making did not stop there.

In the last eight, Morocco completely dismantled the United States in a rampant 4-0 victory that saw this monumental run continue.

The Atlas Lions are now two wins from immortality — but whether they go on to win or lose, Moroccan football is only just getting (re)started.