World Cup: Morocco Sets New Record with 11 Diaspora Players Against Brazil
Collected Photo
Morocco, who drew 1-1 with Brazil in Group C of the 2026 World Cup, set a unique record in the match. For the first time in football history, a national team fielded an eleven where every single player was born outside the country's own soil.
The event took place in the 20th minute of the second half. Samir El Mourabet came on as a substitute for Azzedine Ounahi. As soon as Ounahi—the only player born within Moroccan territory—left the pitch, every member of the eleven became a diaspora footballer raised outside the country. This situation lasted for 24 minutes, until Sofyan Rahimi entered the field in the 44th minute of the second half, and those 24 minutes were written into the history books.
That historic eleven included four players born in France: Issa Diop, Neil El Aynaoui, Ayoub Bouadi, and Samir El Mourabet; three players born in Spain: Chadi Riad, Achraf Hakimi, and Ismail Saibari; two from Belgium: Chemseddin Talbi and Bilal El Khannous; one from the Netherlands: Noussair Mazraoui; and one from Canada: Yassine Bounou.
The Caribbean island nation of Curaçao was initially seen as the most likely to break this record. Their 26-man squad includes only one locally born player. It is believed that Curaçao could follow the same path in their debut match against Germany this Sunday.