Morocco face Lesotho with top spot at stake in 2027 AFCON qualifying

Morocco will try to preserve their place at the top of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group when they meet Lesotho on Tuesday.

The Atlas Lions won their opening qualifier in Rabat on 25 September, while Lesotho began their campaign with a 2-1 defeat by Niger. Morocco’s next fixture will be a friendly against Ghana in Tangier on 4 October.

The match will be played at the Free State Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein, South Africa. Kick-off is scheduled for 15:00 French time and 14:00 in Morocco.

In France, the game will be shown on beIN Sports 1. Viewers in Morocco can watch it on beIN Sports 3 Mena, Al Aoula and probably Arryadia.

Mohamed Ouahbi’s side opened their qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Gabon last week. Noussair Mazraoui broke the deadlock in the 36th minute after being set up by Nayef Aguerd, before Soufiane Rahimi added a second in the 84th minute from Bilal El Khannouss’ pass.

Morocco are expected to make several changes to their starting line-up for the meeting with Lesotho.

Aguerd, who remained at Maamora, is unavailable and will miss the match in central defence. Redouane Halhal, who did not feature against Gabon, is in line to replace him.

Achraf Hakimi could return at right-back after completing his CAF suspension, with Ali Maamar potentially dropping to the bench.

There may also be changes in midfield. Ilias Akhomach could start instead of Gessime Yassine, while Abdellah Ouazane is in contention for his first start.

Rahimi is expected to replace Yassir Zabiri in attack after Zabiri struggled to make an impact as the team’s centre-forward. Ismael Saibari remains suspended.

Morocco have already faced Lesotho twice, winning both matches two years ago during qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The first meeting, in Agadir in September 2024, ended in a narrow 1-0 victory after Brahim Diaz scored in the 90th+3 minute. Morocco then produced a 7-0 win in Oujda the following November.

Brahim Diaz scored a hat-trick in that second game, while Rahimi claimed two goals.