2026 World Cup: The Atlas Lions' Full Schedule

On 13 June 2026 at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Morocco face Brazil at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Six days later, the Atlas Lions meet Scotland in Boston. On 24 June they close the group stage against Haiti in Atlanta. Three matches, three cities, eleven days. The 23rd FIFA World Cup — the first 48-team edition, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — is also Morocco's seventh appearance and the first since the historic semi-final run of Qatar 2022.

The Draw and the Group C Picture

The 2026 World Cup draw was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington on 5 December 2025. Morocco landed in Group C alongside Brazil, Scotland and Haiti. Three opponents with sharply different profiles, a tight calendar, and one striking geographic feature: every Moroccan group match sits on the East Coast of the United States, from New Jersey to Georgia, with a stop in Massachusetts in between.

Brazil arrive as group favourites — five-time world champions, top-tier FIFA ranking. Morocco target the second automatic qualification slot for the Round of 32. Scotland, returning to the World Cup after a 28-year absence, and Haiti, playing only their second World Cup ever after 1974, will fight for third place and the chance to advance among the eight best third-placed teams. The 48-team format opens that lane: with twelve groups of four, the eight best third-placed sides join the twenty-four group winners and runners-up in the Round of 32.

The Atlas Lions' Match Schedule

All three kick-offs at 6 p.m. Eastern Time, midnight Moroccan time.

The U.S. broadcasters confirmed for these matches are Fox and FS1. In Morocco, coverage will run on the SNRT channels Arryadia and Al Aoula as in previous tournaments, with radio relay on national networks. The time gap matters: kick-offs at 11 p.m. or midnight Casablanca time stretch the evening and shape the organisation of the fan zones, a tradition that grew during the 2018 World Cup and exploded during Qatar 2022.

The Head-to-Head History

Morocco vs Brazil. Four meetings at the World Cup, all in the group stage. The first dates back to 1974 (0-0). Then three Brazilian wins: 4-1 in 1982, 1-0 in 1990, and 2-1 in the opening match of the 1998 World Cup. Their most recent match in any competition was a friendly in 2011, won 2-0 by Brazil — keeping their head-to-head record unbeaten against the Atlas Lions.

Morocco vs Scotland. A single competitive meeting, and one that lives on in Moroccan memory. In the final group game of the 1998 World Cup, Morocco beat Scotland 3-0. The win was not enough for qualification — Norway pulled off a late upset in the parallel match in a sequence Moroccan fans still discuss today. Twenty-eight years on, the two sides meet again — and Scotland, as in 1998, returns to the global stage after a long absence.

Morocco vs Haiti. First-ever official meeting. No previous match, competitive or friendly, ties the two national teams before this World Cup. Morocco enters this third game as the theoretical favourite, but with no precedent to feed tactical analysis.

Echoes From the Recent Past

The 1998 echo is impossible to miss. Morocco were drawn that year in the same group as Brazil, Scotland and Norway. They lost to Brazil, drew with Norway, then beat Scotland 3-0. Four points — which should have been enough — were undone by Norway's late 2-1 win over Brazil that bumped the Scandinavians ahead. Twenty-eight years later, two of the three opponents are identical. FIFA flagged the coincidence in its post-draw communication.

The other reference point is Qatar 2022 — the semi-final run, the first time an African or Arab nation reached that stage, the 2-0 loss to France in Doha and the fourth place after the loss to Croatia. Morocco arrive at the 2026 World Cup ranked 11th by FIFA, a status that puts the Lions among the credible outsiders of a 48-team tournament where squad depth matters as much as star names.

Where Morocco Stands as the Tournament Approaches

As of 29 April 2026, Morocco is in a transitional phase. Walid Regragui, the architect of the Qatar 2022 run, stepped down in March 2026. Mohamed Ouahbi took over, riding the credit of his triumph with the Morocco U-20s at the 2025 Chile World Cup. His first matches in charge of the senior side delivered a 1-1 draw against Ecuador on 27 March in Madrid and a fixture against Paraguay on 31 March in Lille. Three months separate his last preparatory window from the opening match against Brazil.

The squad rests on a settled core — Hakimi (PSG), Bono, En-Nesyri, Amrabat, Aguerd, Ounahi, Brahim Díaz — alongside the recently integrated younger generation: Bilal El Khannouss, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Adam Aznou, Hamza Igamane. The biggest open question remains Hakim Ziyech, whose move back to Wydad in October 2025 has not yet pulled him back into the head coach's rotation. The May and early-June 2026 international windows will produce the final squad list.

What Each Match Will Decide

The opener against Brazil is the media event of the group. The historical weight is real — four World Cup meetings, four points for Brazil, never a Moroccan win. Opening the World Cup at MetLife, a stadium that holds more than 80,000, with the East Coast Moroccan diaspora set to turn out in force, gives the match a symbolic charge no friendly can replicate.

The second game against Scotland in Boston will probably decide qualification. Both teams arrive into their second match with the third matchday hanging on the result. A win usually locks the second-place finish and opens favourable Round-of-32 brackets. A draw leaves the door ajar; a loss bolts it for Atlanta.

The closing match against Haiti in Atlanta can change everything or change nothing, depending on what came before. It is also, on paper, the most approachable fixture — though World Cup history has supplied enough cautionary tales for Morocco to treat it without the energy-saving setting on.