The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Morocco

This page contains a list of the greatest Moroccan Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 59 of which were born in Morocco. This makes Morocco the birth place of the 51st most number of Soccer Players behind Saudi Arabia, and Ecuador.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Moroccan Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Moroccan Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Moroccan Soccer Players.

1. Just Fontaine (1933 - 2023)

With an HPI of 69.97, Just Fontaine is the most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 58 different languages on wikipedia.

Just Louis Fontaine (French pronunciation: [ʒyst lwi fɔ̃tɛn]; 18 August 1933 – 28 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 FIFA World Cup tournament. In March 2004, Pelé named him one of his 125 Greatest Living Footballers at a FIFA Awards Ceremony.

2. Larbi Benbarek (1914 - 1992)

With an HPI of 59.10, Larbi Benbarek is the 2nd most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Larbi Benbarek; also Ben Barek or Ben M'barek, Arabic: العربي بن مبارك; 16 June 1917 – 16 September 1992) was a Moroccan football player. He represented the France national football team 17 times. He earned the sobriquet of "Black Pearl" and is considered one of the greatest soccer players of his time.

3. Ahmed Faras (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 58.27, Ahmed Faras is the 3rd most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Ahmed Faras (Arabic: أحمد فرس; born 7 December 1946) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chabab Mohammédia at club level and Morocco internationally. Faras was named African Footballer of the Year in 1975. In 2006, Faras was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years.

4. Ezzaki Badou (b. 1959)

With an HPI of 52.32, Ezzaki Badou is the 4th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Ezzaki Badou (Arabic: الزاكي بادو; born 2 April 1959), nicknamed Zaki, is a Moroccan football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He manages Niger.

5. Mustapha Hadji (b. 1971)

With an HPI of 51.82, Mustapha Hadji is the 5th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

Mustapha Hadji (born 16 November 1971) is a Moroccan football coach and former player. He was named the 50th greatest African player of all time by the African football expert Ed Dove.

6. Noureddine Naybet (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 51.03, Noureddine Naybet is the 6th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Noureddine Naybet (Arabic: نور الدين نيبت; born 10 February 1970) is a Moroccan former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He played in Spain for Deportivo de La Coruña and in Portugal for Sporting CP, as well as in France for FC Nantes and in England for Tottenham Hotspur. He is considered one of the best defenders in La Liga of his generation. Naybet spent the longest and most successful period of his career with Deportivo La Coruña in Spain's La Liga, from 1996 to 2004. He was named the 44th greatest African player of all time by the African football expert Ed Dove. Naybet played a record 115 matches for the Morocco national team scoring four goals, representing the country in two World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

7. Abderrahmane Mahjoub (1929 - 2011)

With an HPI of 49.52, Abderrahmane Mahjoub is the 7th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Abderrahmane Mahjoub or Abderrahmane Belmahjoub (Arabic: عبد الرحمن بلمحجوب; 25 April 1929 – 31 August 2011) was a French and Moroccan international football midfielder. Known as Prince du Parc (Prince of the Park) in his playing days for his dominant control of the midfield, he was regarded as one of the best Arab players of his generation, and one of the few who graced the sports fields of Europe in the 1950s and 1960s.

8. Abdelmajid Dolmy (1953 - 2017)

With an HPI of 49.48, Abdelmajid Dolmy is the 8th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Abdelmajid Dolmy (Arabic: عبد المجيد الظلمي; 20 August 1953 – 27 July 2017) was a Moroccan professional footballer who played as a libero then as a central midfielder for Raja CA and the Moroccan national team. Nicknamed Maestro, he is widely considered one of the best players in the history of Moroccan and African football. He started playing football in Derb sultan and joined the Raja-Oasis Complex in 1969 aged 16. Two years later, he joined the first team where he made a few appearances before establishing himself as a key player in 1973. He won the Throne Cup in 1974, 1977 and 1982, and came close to winning Botola many times. In 1987, Olympique de Casablanca signed him for a then Moroccan record transfer fee. In 1990, he returned to Raja and retired the next year at the age of 38. With the Atlas Lions, he made his debut with the U20 national team in 1971. In 1973, he was called up to the senior team for a friendly match against Senegal, but did not play. On 23 February 1975, he made his debut under Gheorghe Mărdărescu against Libya in the qualifiers for the 1976 Summer Olympics. He played all games in the 1976 African Cup of Nations won by Morocco. He also won the gold medal at the 1983 Mediterranean Games. He played in three more AFCON and in the 1984 Summer Olympics. At the 1986 World Cup, he was a key player of the first African team to finish top of a World Cup group and the first African team to reach the knockout stages, before being eliminated by West Germany after a last-minute goal. He was one of the best Moroccan players of the tournament and was rated 9/10 by L'Équipe against England. He retired from international football after the 1988 AFCON. In 1992, UNESCO awarded him the Fair play prize, to reward a “player whose exemplary morality and courtesy make him unanimously considered by his partners or adversaries as a football ambassador”. In 2006, Dolmy was selected by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. In 2022, he's part of the IFFHS all-time Morocco Dream Team.

9. Mohamed Timoumi (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 48.44, Mohamed Timoumi is the 9th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Mohamed Timoumi (Arabic: محمد التيمومي; born 15 January 1960) is a Moroccan former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1985, and was the last player to win this award while playing club football in an African country. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. Timoumi took part in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. At club level, he won the CAF Champions League with FAR Rabat, the biggest Moroccan football club of his era. He also competed for Morocco at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Timoumi played at a young age for the team of the Union of Touarga, where he was the youngest player. It was there where he was first noticed by the observers and experts of Moroccan football. His burgeoning talent led him to join one of the biggest Moroccan clubs: FAR Rabat, with whom he won the CAF Champions League in 1985. In 1985, his talent exploded despite a fracture during the FAR Rabat match against the Egyptian team Zamalek in the semifinals. During this year, Timoumi was, in the unanimous opinion of the international sports press, the star of Africa. He also received the Ballon d'Or Africain. A year later, he participated in the final phase of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. In Mexico City he was considered one of the most important elements of the Moroccan selection. Morocco ranked first in its group with 0 defeats and a resounding victory against Portugal 3–1. This result allowed him to be the first Arab and African country to reach the second round of the World Cup. Timoumi's entry into the world of professionalism (Spain and Belgium) had a negative effect on his psychology, as according to several observers, Timoumi's professional career was poorly managed, which led to a more or less premature retirement. Scores and results list Morocco's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Morocco goal. As Far Botola Pro: 1984 CAF Champions League: 1985 Coupe du Trône: 1984, 1985 Morocco 1983 Mediterranean Games Champion: 1983 1980 African Cup of Nations: 3rd place Pan Arab Games runner-up: 1985 Nehru Cup: 3rd place individual African Footballer of the Year: 1985 Best Moroccan player in 1985 Best player of the CAF Champions League: 1985 African Footballer of the 20th century: 30th place IFFHS All-time Morocco Men's Dream Team

10. Driss Bamous (1942 - 2015)

With an HPI of 48.35, Driss Bamous is the 10th most famous Moroccan Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Driss Bamous (15 December 1942 – 16 April 2015) was a Moroccan football midfielder. He was also a trained professional soldier at the military academy of Saint Cyr, France. Bamous played club football for FAR Rabat in the Botola. Bamous played for the Morocco national football team at the 1964 Summer Olympics and at the 1970 FIFA World Cup finals. Following his playing career, Bamous became the president of the FRMF and organized the 1988 African Cup of Nations in Morocco. In 2006, he was selected by CAF as one of the best 200 African football players of the last 50 years. He was promoted to brigadier general of the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie in 2003. Bamous died in Rabat from a long-term illness. Driss Bamous at Olympics.com

People

Pantheon has 98 people classified as Moroccan soccer players born between 1914 and 2001. Of these 98, 83 (84.69%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Moroccan soccer players include Ahmed Faras, Ezzaki Badou, and Mustapha Hadji. The most famous deceased Moroccan soccer players include Just Fontaine, Larbi Benbarek, and Abderrahmane Mahjoub. As of April 2024, 40 new Moroccan soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Allal Benkassou, Houmane Jarir, and Abdelmajid Lamriss.