Morocco’s Atlas Lions have arrived in South Africa ahead of Tuesday’s 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Lesotho as they look to build on their winning start to the campaign.
Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad travelled from Rabat-Salé Airport on a direct charter flight in the early hours of Sunday, less than 48 hours after beating Gabon 2-0 in their opening Group A fixture.
The Atlas Lions landed in South Africa and are now based in Bloemfontein, where they will face Lesotho at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday.
Morocco are expected to resume training on Sunday, with Ouahbi having planned three sessions before the qualifier.
The first session is expected to focus largely on recovery following the journey, while the remaining preparations will be used to adapt to the local conditions and fine-tune the team’s approach for the match.
The trip will also provide Morocco with an early experience of playing away from home under Ouahbi as they continue their qualifying campaign.
The Atlas Lions arrive with three points after securing a 2-0 victory over Gabon in Rabat on Friday.
Noussair Mazraoui opened the scoring in the 36th minute before Soufiane Rahimi added a second six minutes from full time to give Ouahbi a winning start in his first AFCON qualifying campaign as Morocco coach.
Ouahbi had previously highlighted the different conditions teams can encounter when playing away in Africa, describing those experiences as important to the squad’s development.
Morocco’s arrival in South Africa also came during a difficult weekend for the host country, following two separate mass shootings.
Police said 17 people were killed at a tavern in Wedela, Gauteng, while another 10 people were killed in a separate shooting in Lwandle near Cape Town.
Investigations and manhunts were launched following the two incidents.
Morocco will now turn their full attention to football as they prepare for Tuesday’s Group A encounter, with a second consecutive victory their immediate objective.
