Morocco cap 2025 with Arab Cup win ahead of AFCON

LONDON –

Morocco sealed another title in a landmark year for their national teams on Thursday, defeating Jordan 3-2 after extra time to win the Arab Cup and carry fresh momentum into the Africa Cup of Nations, which they host this month.

Abderrazzaq Hamed Allah scored twice after extra time, including the winner from close range, after Oussama Tannane stunned Jordan with an audacious strike from the centre circle to open the scoring in the fourth minute.

Jordan, set to make their World Cup debut in 2026, responded in the second half through Ali Olwan, who headed home in the 48th minute before converting a penalty 20 minutes later. Hamed Allah forced extra time with an equaliser three minutes from the end before deciding the final.

The Arab Cup success came despite the absence of several Europe-based players and underlined the depth of a Morocco squad that has enjoyed sustained success across age groups and competitions in 2025.

In October, Morocco were crowned Under-20 world champions after beating Argentina 2-0 in the final, becoming the first Arab nation to lift the trophy. The under-17 team reached the World Cup quarter-finals, while the under-23 side won the Africa Cup of Nations and secured Olympic qualification, later taking bronze at the Paris Games.

At senior level, Morocco remain Africa’s highest-ranked side at 11th in the world and are riding a world-record run of 18 consecutive victories. They are also the only African and Arab nation to have reached the semi-finals of a men’s World Cup, after their historic run in Qatar in 2022.

Attention now turns to the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off this weekend in Morocco after being pushed into December because of clashes with the expanded Club World Cup and other scheduling constraints.

Morocco open the tournament against Comoros on Sunday at the new 69,000-seat Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat and are widely regarded as favourites, despite having won the continental title only once, in 1976.

The hosts face uncertainty over the fitness of captain Achraf Hakimi. The Paris Saint-Germain right-back and reigning African player of the year has not played since suffering an ankle injury in early November and is racing to be fit.

The tournament will be staged across six cities, including Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakesh, Agadir and Fez, with Tangier’s 75,000-seat stadium hosting a semi-final, as Morocco showcases infrastructure that will also be used for the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-host with Spain and Portugal.

After a year marked by trophies at multiple levels, Morocco enter the Africa Cup of Nations under intense expectation, with the Arab Cup win offering further evidence of a system delivering results well beyond a single generation.