Morocco's women's national team, the Atlas Lionesses, grew out of a decision to pay clubs before asking for results. A federation-funded plan launched in 2020 came before a home Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) final in 2022, a Women's World Cup knockout run in 2023 and two continental titles for AS FAR. The senior team has still not won a major trophy. It lost the 2025 home final after leading 2-0, then lost both its 2026 semi-final and third-place match on penalties, though it did qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
The 2020 plan paid clubs before it asked for results
The plan started as a club-funding scheme. Kelly Lindsey, head of women's football at the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), and Mohamed Harouane of the Moroccan players' union UMFP described it in an August 2020 FIFPRO interview republished by the Swiss players' union SAFP. The federation was funding the wages of players and staff at 44 clubs, 14 in the first division and 30 in the second. Each club had to register a 25-player roster.
According to that interview, a first-division club received about USD 15,000 a month and a second-division club about USD 10,000, for club funding of about USD 6 million a year as of 2020.
This Is Africa reported a different-looking figure the same month: a women's football budget of six million euros for 2020-21, up from one million euros in 2019-20. The two numbers may describe different things. One is club funding expressed in dollars, the other a season budget expressed in euros, and the FRMF has not published official budget documents that would reconcile them. Readers should treat both as reported figures rather than audited accounts.
Conditions came with the money
The money was tied to rules. This Is Africa reported that the objectives contract requires senior national team players to hold professional contracts. If a club's head coach is a man, the assistant must be a woman, and technical staff for the U-15 level must be entirely female. FRMF president Fouzi Lekjaa called the signing "a historic day".
Wage funding gives players time to train, and the coaching rules were designed to create paid jobs for women on the touchline. Six years later, Le360 reported on 4 August 2026 that the FRMF strategy since 2020 had created professional first and second women's divisions. That two-division structure is a useful benchmark when comparing programs across women's football in the Arab world.
Two coaches across six years
Reynald Pedros took charge of the national team in November 2020, according to Africanews. His tenure covered the 2022 home WAFCON and the 2023 World Cup. After his departure, which followed two friendly losses to Zambia, Morocco appointed former Spain coach Jorge Vilda in October 2023. The FRMF thanked Pedros for his work, in particular for reaching the World Cup's second round, and its statement, as reported, did not link his exit to the Zambia results. Under Vilda, Morocco reached the 2025 WAFCON final and finished fourth at WAFCON 2026, both covered below.
2022 and 2023: the breakthrough years
A record crowd and a lost final in Rabat
Morocco hosted WAFCON 2022 and reached the final. Africanews reported that the semi-final against Nigeria drew 45,562 spectators and the final around 50,000, a WAFCON attendance record. South Africa won that final 2-1 in Rabat on 23 July 2022, with Hildah Magaia scoring both goals.
The crowds were the clearest early return on the investment. A domestic audience that fills a stadium for a women's semi-final is a commercial asset any federation would want to build on.
A first World Cup for an Arab nation
At the 2023 Women's World Cup, Morocco became the first Arab and North African nation to qualify. Captain Ghizlane Chebbak said the team was "honored to be the first Arab country to take part", the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The start was harsh: a 6-0 defeat to Germany. Morocco then beat Korea Republic 1-0 with a goal in the sixth minute. In that match Nouhaila Benzina became the first player to wear a hijab at a senior Women's World Cup, AP reported.
On 3 August 2023, Morocco beat Colombia 1-0. Anissa Lahmari scored in first-half stoppage time from the rebound after Chebbak's penalty was saved. The win made Morocco the first Arab or North African team to reach a Women's World Cup knockout stage.
France ended the run with a 4-0 win in Adelaide on 8 August 2023, AP reported. The margin showed how far a fast-growing program still trailed Europe's established sides.
AS FAR and the club layer
AS FAR won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women's Champions League in 2025 by beating ASEC Mimosas 2-1 in Ismailia on 21 November. CAF noted that it was the club's second title, after 2022.
In the CAF Awards 2025, whose final women's categories CAF confirmed in January 2026, Moroccan players, a Moroccan coach and a Moroccan club took five women's categories:
- Ghizlane Chebbak (Morocco and Al Hilal) won Women's Player of the Year.
- Sanaâ Mssoudy won Interclub Player of the Year.
- Doha El Madani won Young Player of the Year.
- AS FAR won Club of the Year.
- Lamia Boumehdi, a Moroccan coach, won Coach of the Year with TP Mazembe.
A strong domestic champion gives national team players regular high-stakes matches without leaving the country. AS FAR is the club of Morocco's Royal Armed Forces, so its titles cannot be credited to the federation plan alone, but they coincided with it.
What Morocco has not won yet
Leading 2-0 in a home final, then losing
The WAFCON 2024 edition was played in July 2025, again in Rabat. Morocco led Nigeria 2-0 in the final through Chebbak in the 12th minute and Mssoudy in the 24th. Nigeria came back to win 3-2 on 26 July 2025. It was Morocco's second home final defeat in three years.
WAFCON 2026: two shootouts, one ticket to Brazil
Morocco hosted WAFCON for the third straight edition in 2026, a 16-team tournament. Al Jazeera reported that CAF postponed it 12 days before the original March kickoff, citing "unforeseen circumstances", and rescheduled it for 26 July to 16 August 2026. All four semi-finalists qualified for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.
On 12 August, Morocco and Cameroon drew 0-0 after extra time at the Moulay El Hassan Stadium in Rabat. Cameroon won the shootout 3-1, as reported by Hespress and EWN.
Three days later, Morocco drew 1-1 with Algeria in the third-place play-off and lost 3-2 on penalties. Morocco, Cameroon, Malawi and Algeria all qualified for Brazil. Cameroon then beat Malawi 3-0 in the final on 16 August for its first continental title.
Morocco reached at least the semi-finals in each of the last three WAFCONs, all played at home, and has lost two finals, a semi-final and a third-place match.
| Tournament | Host | Stage reached | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAFCON 2022 | Morocco | Final | Lost 2-1 to South Africa |
| Women's World Cup 2023 | Australia and New Zealand | Round of 16 | Lost 4-0 to France |
| WAFCON 2024 (played 2025) | Morocco | Final | Lost 3-2 to Nigeria |
| WAFCON 2026 | Morocco | Fourth place | Lost semi-final and third-place match on penalties |
What the FIFA ranking shows
On its FIFA country page, viewed on 27 October 2026, Morocco sat 64th with 1,384.71 points. Its highest ever position is 52nd and its lowest 83rd.
| Year-end | FIFA ranking |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 81 |
| 2020 | 77 |
| 2021 | 78 |
| 2022 | 76 |
| 2023 | 60 |
| 2024 | 61 |
| 2025 | 66 |
Source: FIFA women's ranking history for Morocco, viewed 27 October 2026. FIFA's page gives the peak position but not its date.
The jump between 2022 and 2023 matches the World Cup run, and the slip back to 66th at the end of 2025 shows the gains have not compounded in a straight line. The next official update is scheduled for 7 December 2026.
What other Arab federations can take from Morocco
Fund the league as well as the national team
Morocco's plan put money into club wages across two divisions. It was intended to give players professional time to train and the national team more domestic options; Le360 reported that it created professional first and second divisions, and it coincided with AS FAR's continental titles. Federations that spend mainly on a national team camp schedule will struggle to get the same depth.
Attach conditions to the money
The coaching rules reported by This Is Africa were meant to turn funding into employment for women coaches. Any federation copying the wage model without those conditions would likely get more players but not more women in technical roles. Where Arab federations are starting their own leagues, as with Saudi Arabia's program, the conditions on funding deserve as much attention as the totals.
Use hosting to build audiences
Morocco has hosted three straight WAFCONs and drew a WAFCON record crowd in 2022. It has not yet converted home advantage into a title. Hosting is a strong tool for building an audience and commercial value. It does not, on its own, protect a 2-0 lead in a final or win a penalty shootout.
Publish the numbers
FIFPRO's dollar figure and the euro budget reported by This Is Africa cannot be reconciled from public documents, and without published budgets outside observers cannot judge value for money. Transparency would make Morocco's case stronger, and it would give other federations a cleaner model to copy. Other articles on this site look at how money and institutions shape the women's game elsewhere.
What to watch next
As of late October 2026, the FRMF had not announced whether Vilda stays after WAFCON 2026. The 7 December 2026 FIFA ranking update will show whether the summer's results held the team near 64th.
At Brazil 2027, Morocco will try to match or pass its 2023 round of 16. That run set a standard that a second World Cup squad, built on six years of funded domestic football, will be measured against. AS FAR's defense of its continental title will show whether the club layer stays ahead of African rivals. And any publication of official FRMF budget figures would finally let the model be assessed on its full numbers.
Television and podcast discussions of these themes are collected on the interviews page.