Three years ago, Morocco made history by becoming the first African team ever to advance to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup, where they ultimately fell 2-0 to France. The Atlas Lions have also won every single match they’ve played in 2025, sweeping AFCON qualification and their four international friendlies and being the only team to record a perfect record in CAF World Cup qualifying. To top it all off, their under-20 team won the U-20 World Cup, a weakened side won the Arab Cup, and Achraf Hakimi finished sixth in Ballon d’Or voting, the best-ever finish by a Moroccan player. The Maghrebi side is truly experiencing a golden generation.
The Atlas Lions’ next step in their quest to become a global footballing powerhouse will be to win the Africa Cup of Nations, which Morocco is hosting this year as preparation for the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-host alongside Portugal and Spain (with the opening matches set to take place in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay). They’ll play the second game of the group stage at 3 p.m. ET (9 p.m. local) against Mali in Rabat.
The Atlas Lions are -190 favorites to win and +280 to draw at DraftKings Sportsbook. Les Aigles are +600.
Morocco vs. Mali prediction, pick
Unsurprisingly, Morocco cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory in the tournament’s opening match despite pouring rain, never being seriously threatened by Comoros. The Atlas Lions top the group alone, as Mali played out a 1-1 draw with Zambia, the only draw on the first match day of AFCON play. Both results were rather expected: if Morocco — ranked 11th in the latest FIFA World Rankings — didn’t manage to beat No. 109 Comoros comfortably, that would’ve been a massive disappointment, and while Les Aigles, ranked 53rd, probably should’ve been expected to beat No. 91 Zambia, the Southern African side has Patson Daka, a former Austrian Bundesliga legend and current Leicester City man.
The Atlas Lions’ overwhelming talent advantage was evident in the opening match, as they dominated with 70% possession and 16 shots to Comoros’ four and generated five corners without conceding one. Real Madrid’s Brahim Díaz opened the scoring in the 55th minute after Manchester United man Noussair Mazraoui squared it into the middle by the penalty spot, and Ayoub El Kaabi sealed the deal in the 74th minute with a Puskás contender, soaring high for an overhead kick into the bottom left corner and past Comoros goalkeeper Yannick Pandor, who’d previously been spectacular. As tremendous as Morocco’s attack is, though, its defense is arguably even better: it has kept 10 consecutive clean sheets and hasn’t conceded in more than nine months. Hakimi missed the opening match as he recovers from the high-ankle sprain he suffered in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League loss to Bayern Münich, but Mazraoui plays similarly as an attacking-oriented wingback and could cover for him if he’s not ready to play. Yassine Bounou wasn’t tested much against Comoros, but he has demonstrated his clutch bona fides both in the 2022 World Cup and the 2025 Club World Cup with Saudi side Al-Hilal, where it advanced to the quarterfinals.
Still, the Atlas Lions shouldn’t completely overlook Mali. Les Aigles have plenty of goal-scoring talent in their own right, racking up a 6-0 victory over Eswatini in the final match of AFCON qualification last fall, and in friendlies, they only narrowly lost to the possibly World Cup-bound DR Congo and drew with World Cup-bound Jordan. They had a decent World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing third in Group I but posting by far the best goal difference of any third-place side. In that competition, Brest striker Kamory Doumbia finished tied for third in goals with Victor Osimhen and Denis Bouanga and behind only Mohamed Salah and Mohamed Amoura, and fellow Ligue 1 man Lassine Sinayoko scored in the draw against Zambia. Mali’s entire attack is in hot form: Sinayoko recorded a goal contribution in each of his last three Ligue 1 matches, Doumbia scored against Monaco, and El Bilal Touré has four goal contributions in his last three matches for Beşiktaş in Türkiye. Les Aigles have some talent in their back line, too, though only one (Sassuolo’s Woyo Coulibaly) plays in one of Europe’s top-five leagues. Goalkeeper Djigui Diarra might be a weak link, as the competition at Tanzanian side Young Africans SC isn’t exactly El Kaabi and Hakimi’s level, but he only allowed six goals in World Cup qualifying.
Mali could certainly make things interesting, and all it might take is one mistake by Morocco’s back line for Touré or Sinayoko to find the back of the net. But with all due respect to Les Aigles (as well as Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, and Algeria), only one African team can realistically dream of winning the World Cup next summer. For a team like Morocco — even without a fully fit Hakimi — conceding even a goal to Mali would be considered a disappointment. This golden generation of Atlas Lions hasn’t disappointed yet, and they won’t now.
