Morocco’s Lionesses Hold Ground at 60th in FIFA World Rankings, 3rd in Africa

In the latest rankings of the International Federation of Football (FIFA), published on Thursday, the Moroccan women’s national football team has retained their 60th spot in the global ranking while keeping their position as Africa’s third best team.

After a narrow 1-0 loss to Cameroon and a 3-1 victory over Tunisia in friendlies, the Atlas Lionesses wrapped up June rankings with 1,419.63 points, a slight dip of 8.09 points compared to the previous rankings.

Nigeria (1,623.63 points) and South Africa (1,488.49) remain the continent’s top two teams, with Morocco holding firm in third. Cameroon (1,396.20) and Zambia (1,395.35) trail closely behind.

Egypt, now ranked 93rd globally, were the biggest climbers in this update, jumping seven spots. 

At the international level, the US are still on top, while Spain (2nd) and Germany (3rd), both unbeaten this quarter, are closing in after the Americans stumbled at home with a 2-1 defeat to a 4th-placed-Brazil in April. Brazil’s surge to fourth marks a major milestone as their first time occupying the spot since 2013. England sits fifth, narrowly ahead of Sweden.  

Meanwhile, Japan (7th, -2) and Canada (8th, -1) lost ground after defeats to Brazil and Argentina, respectively.  

At the South American level, Colombia (18th, +3) made history by cracking the top 20 for the first time after a narrow victory against South Korea. Paraguay (45th, +1) and Venezuela (48th, +3) also hit their all-time highs, with Venezuela pulling off a shock 3-1 win over New Zealand.  

Central America is also making strides, as Haiti (50th, +3) and Puerto Rico (79th, +2) reach unprecedented heights, while Saudi Arabia (165th, +1), Luxembourg (111th, +6), and Bangladesh (128th, +5) celebrate record climbs.

Jorge Vilda Rodriguez, head coach of the women’s national “A” football team, unveiled on Thursday the list of players selected for Atlas Lionesses’ friendly games against Tunisia and Cameroon on April 4 and 8 respectively.

These fixtures, to be played at Casablanca’s Père Jégo stadium, will serve as preparation for the next Women’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON), to be held in Morocco on July 5-26, 2025.

Here follows the list of the 27-players squad:
 

— Goalkeepers:

  Fatima Zahra El Jebraoui (Wydad Casabanca), Zineb El Arari (RS Berkane), Hind Hasnaoui (AS FAR), Ines Arouaissa (Saint Malo/France).

— Defenders: 

  Zineb Redouani (AS FAR), Djennah Cherif (Genk Ladies/Belgium), Hanane Ait Elhaj (Valencia CF/Spain), Aziza Er-rabbah (AS FAR), Nouhaila Benzina (AS FAR), Siham Boukhami (AS FAR), Yasmin Mrabet (Valencia CF/Spain), Fatima El Ghazouani (RS Lens/France).

— Midfielders:

  Najat Badri (AS FAR), Ghizlane Chebbak (Levante Badalona/Spain), Eodie Nakkach (Al Ahli/Saudi Arabia), Sarah Kassi (FC Fleury 91/France), Soumia Hady (Wydad Casablanca), Sanaa Mssoudy (AS FAR), Imene El Ghazouani (Sevrette FC/Switzerland).

— Forwards:

  Fatima Tagnaout (AS FAR), Sakina Ouzraoui Diki (Costa Adeje Tenerife/Spain), Jade Nassi (Stade Reims/France), Rania Boutiebi (Yla Brugges/Belgium), Imane Saoud (Sevrette FC/Switzerland), Ibtissa Jraïdi (Al Ahli Jeddah/Saudi Arabia), Kenza Chapelle (RC Strasbourg/France), Rosella Ayane (Tottenham/England).

The Moroccan under-20 women’s national team defeated Romania 4-2 on Wednesday during the third day of the Pink Ladies Cup at the Emirhan Sports Complex in Antalya, Turkey.

Goals were scored by Ghita Haouzi (2nd, 26th minutes), Ines Aboucharif (22nd), and Dina Haizoun (51st).

Earlier in the tournament, Morocco drew 1-1 with Turkey and lost 3-0 to Slovakia.

Morocco’s women football team has maintained its 59th place in the FIFA rankings published on Friday, and remains in the African top 3.

Absent from the last 2024 Olympic Games in Paris which factores in the FIFA rankings, the Atlas Lionesses still occupy third place at continental level, behind South Africa (50th) and Nigeria (36th).

Additionally, the U.S. team are back in the lead (+4) thanks to their victory at the Olympic Games, ahead of England (+1) and Spain who fell back to 3rd place.

The next FIFA ranking of women’s teams will be released on December 20.

Morocco will play in Group C at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, following the draw carried out on Wednesday in Bogotá.

Morocco will play reigning world champions Spain, joint-record champions USA and Paraguay in the World Cup, scheduled for August 31 to September 22 in Colombia.

Last January, the U20 women’s national football team achieved a historic qualification for the U20 World Cup.

Despite their defeat in the second-leg game of the final round of the African qualifiers against Ethiopia, the Moroccan team clinched their ticket to Colombia 2024 thanks their precious victory (2-0) in the first leg, at the Abdi El stadium in El Jadida.

Groups:

Group A: Colombia, Australia, Cameroon, Mexico

Group B: France, Canada, Brazil, Fiji

Group C: Spain, United States, Paraguay, Morocco

Group D: Germany, Venezuela, Nigeria, Republic of Korea

Group E: Japan, New Zealand, Ghana, Austria

Group F: North Korea, Argentina, Costa Rica, Netherlands

The Moroccan U-17 women’s football team has qualified for the final round of the African qualifiers for the 2024 World Cup, after a comprehensive 4-0 victory over its Algerian counterpart on Friday in Algiers, in the second leg of the third and penultimate round of the qualifiers.

Morocco’s goals were scored by C.Boughazi (6th), L.M.Jamai (62nd, 79th) and D.Haizoun (76th).

In the first leg, the Moroccan team won 4-0.

The African teams qualifying for the U-17 Women’s World Cup will be announced at the end of the fourth and final round in June.

The U-17 Women’s World Cup 2024 is scheduled to take place from October 16 to November 3 in the Dominican Republic.