Ziyech makes return to national team as Morocco unveil squad for WC

The Moroccan coach Walid Regragui unveiled on Thursday his list of 26 players for the World Cup. The Atlas Lions will rely on the attacking talent of Hakim Ziyech, the Chelsea winger who has returned to the national team after being dropped by the previous coach Vahid Halilhodzic.

Another returnee is Abderrazak Hamdallah (Ittihad FC), who publicly apologized for having slammed the door at the CAN 2019

The big surprise in the selection is a teenager from Belgium by the name of Bilal El Khannouss, who is only 18 years old

"We have an amazing team, to be honest, with a lot of quality, a lot of players who play in big leagues in Europe, also for big teams. I think we can do something special, something nobody is thinking, I think we can achieve that," said Noussair Mazraoui, Morocco and Bayern Munich defender.

Morocco will play in group F and will on November 23 play their first match against Croatia. The Atlas Lions will then face Romelu Lukaku’s Belgium before meeting Alphonso Davies of Canada.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla/ESP), Munir Mohamedi (Al Wehda/KSA), Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (Wydad Casablanca)

Defenders: Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain/FRA), Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich/GER), Nayef Aguerd (West Ham/ENG), Badr Benoun (Qatar SC), Romain Saiss (Besiktas/TUR), Yahya Attiyat Allah (Wydad Casablanca), Jawad El Yamiq (Valladolid/ESP), Achraf Dari (Brest/FRA)

Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina/ITA), Abdelhamid Sabiri (Sampdoria/ITA), Selim Amallah (Standard Liege/BEL), Azzedine Ounahi (Angers/FRA), Bilal El Khannouss (Genk/BEL), Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Casablanca)

Forwards: Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea/ENG), Amine Harit (Marseille/FRA), Abde Ezzalzouli (Osasuna/ESP), Zakaria Aboukhlal (Toulouse/FRA), Sofiane Boufal (Angers/FRA), Ilias Chair (Queens Park Rangers/ENG), Youssef En-Nesyri (Sevilla/ESP), Walid Cheddira (Bari/ITA), Abderrazak Hamed Allah (Al-Ittihad/KSA)