Ahead of the pivotal Paris 2024 Olympics Qualification match against Zambia, Morocco’s Women’s National Team’s unbeaten streak is in jeopardy.
The Atlas Lionesses will host the return fixture match on April 9 after playing the Copper Queens away in Ndola on April 5.
Winner of the two-leg affair will join either South Africa or Nigeria in the Olympics. Result-wise, Morocco has had an amazing run since Jorge Vilda was appointed on October 12, 2023.
Vilda led Spain to victory in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and she hasn’t lost since replacing Reynald Pedros, who led Morocco to second place in the 2023 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
The Atlas Lionesses also earned qualification to the World Cup with their runner-up finish at the WAFCON and went on to reach the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Pedros’ reign came to an end in October 2023 when he suffered back-to-back defeats to Bruce Mwape’s Copper Queens in international friendly matches.
Morocco lost 2-0 in the first half and could not contain the Copper Queens in the second leg, going down 6-2 in the second friendly match.
Under Vilda, the Atlas Lionesses are unbeaten in six matches. In that run of matches, Morocco has only conceded three goals, scoring an impressive 14 goals.
Morocco has not beaten Zambia before.
Morocco beat Namibia with an identical 2-0 score in home and away matches in the WAFCON qualifiers.
In the final round of qualifiers, Morocco swept aside Uganda via a 4-1 aggregate score line. Thereafter, the Atlas Lionesses dispatched Tunisia 6-2 on aggregate in the penultimate round of the 2024 Olympics qualifiers.
The world cup-winning coach and his ladies will try to take advantage of the Copper Queens’ defensive problems, which saw them give up three goals against Ghana at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola.
Zambia’s needed a moment of brilliance from Barbra Banda to eliminate Ghana 4-3 on aggregate.
However, Mwape’s side has a psychological edge over Morocco based on the previous meeting between the two sides.
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Only a draw has been achieved by Morocco in three meetings with Zambia, who have defeated the North Africans twice.
