Hakim Ziyech is out of Morocco’s 2026 World Cup squad, and the decision was technical rather than medical. Mohamed Ouahbi left him off after deciding to go with a younger group and not being convinced by Ziyech’s performances at Al Ittihad.
Mohamed Ouahbi’s call
The omission is the clearest sign yet of how much Morocco’s selection picture has changed after Walid Regragui stepped down in March. After March, Morocco’s federation turned to Ouahbi, and his first major call has been to move away from a veteran attacking option who has been one of the country’s biggest names.
Ziyech’s absence is not being framed as an injury issue. That makes the cut more pointed, because it leaves the explanation tied to form and squad choice, not availability. For a player of his profile, being left out on technical grounds is a harder verdict than missing out because of fitness.
Ziyech and Al Ittihad
The key detail is his work at Al Ittihad. The manager’s view was that those performances were not enough to force his way into the 2026 World Cup squad, even after Ziyech joined Al Ittihad earlier this year.
That timeline matters. Ziyech had joined Galatasaray in 2024 before the move to Al Ittihad, but the squad decision came after that switch, when Morocco had already changed managers and reset the selection process. Ouahbi’s choice shows that reputation alone was not enough to carry a place.
Morocco’s wider selection
Ziyech is not the only experienced attacker to miss out. Youssef En-Nesyri was also left off Morocco’s 2026 World Cup list for technical reasons, despite 25 goals in 92 matches for Morocco and 196 matches with 73 goals for Sevilla. He had also scored the winning goal against Portugal in the quarterfinals in Qatar.
For Morocco, the squad is being reshaped around a younger core. For Ziyech, the immediate consequence is simple: he will not be part of the 2026 World Cup group unless the selection picture changes later. What specific performances at Al Ittihad persuaded Ouahbi to leave him out is the missing piece that still hangs over the decision.
