Geneva, Nov 15: When World Cup qualifying starts in Africa on Wednesday, Morocco will be a hub of soccer action a year after the national team’s historic run to becoming the continent’s first semifinalist.
Seven teams will play “home” games in Morocco over the next week, but Africa’s standout team will not be among them. Morocco’s first home game in qualifying for the 2026 tournament is in June.
Morocco has several stadiums of international standard – as befits a country preparing to co-host the 2030 World Cup – when much of the rest of Africa has none and needs a temporary home.
A strict policy by the Confederation of African Football since 2021 to drive construction and renovation of higher quality national stadiums has left 17 of 53 teams in action over the next week hosting games on neutral ground, far away from their fans at home.
It is “totally unacceptable,” CAF president Patrice Motsepe has said, that some members do not have a stadium that complies with standards to host international games for national and club teams.
So, Ethiopia opens Wednesday in the western Morocco port city of El Jadida hosting Burkina Faso about 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) from Addis Ababa. (AP)
