The Atlas Lions of Morocco will take on Cote d’Ivoire in a friendly match in October in preparation for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The announcement was revealed in a press conference by Yacine Idriss Dialo, president of the Cote d’Ivoire Football Federation (FIF), following the conclusion of the 61st Ordinary General Assembly on Friday.

Dialo made an announcement about Cote d’Ivoire’s preparations for the AFCON at the event, emphasizing that his team will play friendlies in September and October.

On September 12, the Cote d’Ivoire team is scheduled to play an unnamed opponent, however the president specified that an exhibition match against the Atlas Lions of Morocco is scheduled to take place at the Ebimpe stadium on October 14.

The Atlas Lions have participated in a number of friendly matches since winning the World Cup.

In the encounter against Brazil, Morocco’s team was able to continue its strong World Cup showings, becoming the first Arab team in history to defeat the footballing giant.

However, the Atlas Lions were unable to triumph in their friendly against Cape Verde and Peru, as both games ended in scoreless draws.

More recently, on June 17, South Africa defeated Morocco 2-1 in an AFCON qualification match, drawing ire from the crowd.

Walid Regragui, the head coach of Morocco, made it clear in a post-game press conference that he wants to give new members of the team opportunities.

“As I said before, I don’t care if I lose two or three games before AFCON but there were important lessons that we learnt today. In the second half, we gave more intensity but, in the end, Bafana Bafana deserved the victory,” he said. “I changed a lot to see other players and that is what I wanted to see in this game.”

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World Cup semi-finalists and African football’s newest stars, Morocco, will not play again in the qualifiers until June after their two matches against Zimbabwe were canceled due to FIFA’s suspension of the country from international competitions because of problems with its national federation.

The Moroccan football team has officially qualified for the final phase of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN Ivory Coast-2023), following the draw between South Africa and Liberia in Group K on Friday evening at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.

The two teams have now taken their first points, while Morocco leads the group with 6 points.

The Moroccan team had beaten South Africa (2-1) and Liberia (2-0) in the two previous games in this group which has only three teams.

South Africa and Liberia will meet on Tuesday in Monrovia.

The Moroccan team will play two other matches in this group, the first away to South Africa on 12 June and the second at home against Liberia on 4 September.

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The Moroccan 2022 World Cup team landed in Rabat on Tuesday to begin their celebrations after their historic World Cup journey.

Earlier today, the team arrived at the airport in Rabat-Sale, and video of the event showed the players arriving with their moms.

Numerous thousands of Moroccan football supporters gathered to the streets of Rabat, the country’s capital, to cheer on the team as its bus passed by.

Following a tour of Rabat’s streets in an open-roof bus from the airport, the players arrived at the Rabat Royal Palace, where King Mohammed VI will host head coach Walid Regragui and his team for a Royal meal.

The national football team of Morocco had a historic World Cup performance in Qatar, being the first African or Arab side to go past the quarterfinals, as well as the first Arab team to reach the semifinals.

The Atlas Lions were the tournament’s breakout team, winning over both neutrals and those seeking an underdog tale in addition to the millions of viewers at home.

Following a scoreless draw in their opening match against the runners-up from 2018, Croatia, the team defeated favorites Belgium 2-0 and Canada 2-1 to go to the knockout rounds for the first time since 1986.

The Atlas Lions then won against Spain, another formidable opponent from Europe, in a 3-0 penalty shootout. They also won 1-0 over Portugal to go to the semifinals.

Although France’s 2-0 victory over Morocco and Croatia’s 2-1 victory over them prevented Morocco from finishing third, the team’s performance was still the greatest by an African or Arab nation in the tournament’s history.

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