World Cup 2026: How worried should Scotland be about Morocco?

Four years ago, Morocco were the World Cup’s surprise package as they beat Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their way to the semi-finals, where they lost 2-0 to France.

Since then, their squad has evolved and kicked on to further success, but Kachloul believes there is more to come.

At previous tournaments, Morocco were pragmatic and effective – a team built on defensive structure and stability above all else

Under new head coach Mohamed Ouahbi – appointed just before this World Cup after success with the country’s youth teams – Morocco hope to play a more fluid, front-foot style, led by a new generation of talent.

Scotland will have to watch out for 18-year-old Lille midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who shone against Brazil and has been linked with both Arsenal and Liverpool.

Winger Saibari, the scorer against Brazil, looks set to join Bayern Munich, external from PSV Eindhoven.

“What has changed is the introduction of a new manager with fresh ideas,” Kachloul said.

“We also reached the end of a cycle with players like [Hakim] Ziyech, [Sofiane] Boufal, [Youssef] En-Nesyri and Romain Saiss, who are all over 30 and were at the last World Cup and Afcon.

“We needed some new ideas. Morocco winning the Under-20 World Cup with Mohamed Ouahbi was important and he has brought in five or six players under 22.

“They finished [the Brazil] game with six players under 23 on the pitch. So, it’s the Morocco of today, but also the Morocco of tomorrow.”