Friendlies. National Teams 2026/27: the Atlas Lions, fixtures and betting
International friendlies bring two national teams together outside any competition ⚽: there are no points at stake and no qualification to win. Their timing depends on the international windows that FIFA sets in its 2023-2030 calendar; within each window a federation first slots in its competitive fixtures, then picks friendly opponents for whatever dates are left.
The format changed in 2026, when the two autumn windows were merged into one 16-day period, running between 21 September and 6 October 2026, with a maximum of 4 matches per team. The next windows last 9 days and allow 2 matches at most: 9-17 November 2026, 22-30 March 2027 and 7-15 June 2027. Africa uses them for AFCON 2027 qualifiers, with the finals set for the summer of 2027 in East Africa. Morocco are in qualifying Group A with Gabon, Niger and Lesotho, and the top two teams in the group reach the finals. Across the continent, forty-eight teams are spread over twelve qualifying groups; in the three groups that include one of the automatically qualified hosts, only one further ticket is on offer.
Morocco v Ghana on 4 October in Tangier
Mohamed Ouahbi has been in charge of the Atlas Lions since 5 March 2026, when he was presented at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Maamora, succeeding Walid Regragui. He previously ran the Olympic and under-20 sides, and won the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile with the latter. His autumn window has three fixtures:
Date | Fixture | Type | City |
|---|---|---|---|
Friday 25 September 2026 | Morocco v Gabon | 2027 AFCON qualifier, Group A | Rabat |
Tuesday 29 September 2026 | Lesotho v Morocco | 2027 AFCON qualifier | Bloemfontein, South Africa |
Sunday 4 October 2026 | Morocco v Ghana | friendly | Tangier |
The friendly of the window is therefore Morocco v Ghana at the Grand Stade de Tanger, announced by the FRMF and confirmed by the Ghana Football Association. Gabon will be hosted at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat, while Lesotho stage their home game in South Africa. Under FIFA's ranking formula, a friendly inside a window is worth 10, against 5 outside one; a qualifier carries 25 and a World Cup match 50, rising to 60 from the quarter-finals. Even a friendly, when it falls in a window, counts towards the world ranking.
The Atlas Lions' friendlies before the 2026 World Cup
Between March and June, five friendlies served as preparation for the North American tournament. The two March games were played in Europe, in Madrid and in Lens, and the last three came in May and June, two of them on Moroccan soil:
Date | Match | Score | Venue city |
|---|---|---|---|
27 March 2026 | Morocco v Ecuador | 1:1 | Madrid |
31 March 2026 | Morocco v Paraguay | 2:1 | Lens, France |
26 May 2026 | Morocco v Burundi | 5:0 | Maamora |
2 June 2026 | Morocco v Madagascar | 4:0 | Rabat |
7 June 2026 | Morocco v Norway | 1:1 | Harrison, United States |
In North America, Morocco finished second in Group C on 7 points with a goal record of 6 to 3, level on points with Brazil, who topped the group on goal difference: 1:1 against Brazil on 13 June, a 1:0 win over Scotland on 19 June and 4:2 against Haiti on 24 June. In the last 32, on 29 June in Monterrey, they got past the Netherlands on penalties, 3-2, after a 1:1 draw at the end of extra time. Canada were then beaten 3:0 in Houston on 4 July, before a 2:0 defeat by France in the quarter-finals on 9 July in Foxborough. It was the best African run of the tournament, and Morocco became the first team from the continent to reach the quarter-finals twice, after 2022, when they went on to the semi-finals.
Other friendlies in the window
Elsewhere, Brazil play two friendlies in Australia on 25 and 29 September and a third in India on 3 October. Argentina line up three home games, on 30 September and on 3 and 6 October, against Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Benin. Egypt welcome South Africa to Cairo on 4 October. In November, Brazil will face Japan and then Singapore, on the 14th and the 17th, with both games staged in Singapore.
Betting on Friendlies. National Teams from Morocco
For each friendly in the line, the pre-match page opens the usual markets: match winner, double chance, handicap, total goals and whether both sides score. After kick-off, live football betting moves with the score minute by minute. The Football page gathers the Botola Pro, AFCON qualifying and the leagues abroad, and every upcoming match can be combined with Morocco v Ghana on one slip.
Your balance is topped up in dirhams (MAD) 💳 from CIH Bank, Attijari's L'bankalik or Al Barid Bank, or with cash at a Cash Plus outlet. Sign up with 1xBet by Sunday 4 October to bet on the Tangier game against Ghana before kick-off.