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Morocco has long been a force in the Arab-Muslim football world, producing world class players. Hajd Larbi Benbarek, nicknamed the 'Black Pearl' was selected to play for France in the 1940's and Ibrahim Totoune represented France in the 1950's.
Since independence in 1956, football has been the number one sport in the country. Despite a shortage of top quality stadiums with pitches to match, matches are played in nearly every village, usually on dusty roads. For 40 years the game was amateur but in 1996 the Royal Moroccan Football Federation decided to make the sport professional to help the country compete at international level.
Apart from a single African Nations Champions title in 1976, the national team has not had the same success in African as the Moroccan club sides. Raja Casablanca, FAR of Rabat, Widad Casablanca and Olympique Khouribga have all won all-Africa Cups as well as taking Arab titles.
In the World Cup, Morocco became the first African nation to make the last 16 when they made the finals in Mexico in 1986. In 1997 Morocco qualified both for the Afican Nations Cup and the 1998 World Cup without a single defeat in their qualifying groups.
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Fourth time in World Cup finals (1970, 1986, 1994, 1998)
