Why were Hakimi, Brahim Diaz, and Bounou left out of Morocco’s latest call-up before the World Cup?

With the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup just over 20 days away, many national teams have already announced their final squads for the trip to North America. Morocco unveiled a roster for its pre-tournament training camp, but stars such as Achraf Hakimi, Brahim Diaz, and Yassine Bounou were not included.

“Mohammed Ouahbi calls up a group of players for a preparatory training camp ahead of the final 2026 FIFA World Cup squad announcement,” Morocco shared Thursday in a post on its official X account.

That roster is not binding for the World Cup, and it consists of 28 players who are already available to join the national team and begin training at the Mohammed VI Complex between May 22 and May 26. The coaching staff intends to use those days to evaluate players and make final decisions before selecting the 26-man roster for the tournament.

The players called up by Ouahbi currently play for clubs in Morocco or in countries where league seasons have already ended. That includes France’s Ligue 1, where players such as Gomis Ibrahim (Olympique Marseille), Ait Boudlal Abdelhamid (Stade Rennais), and Bouaddi Ayyoud (Lille) are based.

Hakimi and Morocco’s other stars

Unlike Ligue 1, which has already concluded its 2025-26 season, and other leagues such as the Netherlands’ Eredivisie or the Super League Greece, which are in the final stages of their playoffs, several European leagues still have matches remaining. That makes it impossible for players to leave early and join their respective national teams.

In Morocco’s case, that situation affects several of the squad’s biggest stars. La Liga will play Matchday 38 this weekend, after which Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Abde Ezzalzouli and Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), and Azzedine Ounahi (Girona) will become available. The same applies in Italy with AS Roma’s Neil El Aynaoui and in the Premier League with Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui.

Bono will play his final match of the season with Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League on Thursday. Hakimi, meanwhile, has already finished his Ligue 1 campaign, but he still has the UEFA Champions League final ahead with Paris Saint-Germain against Arsenal. As a result, he will not be able to join Morocco’s training camp until after May 30.

Morocco aiming to make history again

At Qatar 2022, Morocco became the best-performing African national team in World Cup history by reaching the semifinals. The team lost to France there before finishing fourth after a defeat against Croatia.

Now Morocco face the challenge of matching or improving that achievement. As part of Group C, the team will open its North America 2026 campaign against Brazil on Saturday, June 13, before facing Scotland and Haiti.