Nayef Aguerd is in the Morocco squad for two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to be played in early September.
The West Ham United centre-back, who has returned to the Irons’ starting XI after spending the 2024/25 season on loan at Spanish club Real Sociedad, has been a regular member of the Morocco team in recent years.
Aguerd has won 55 caps for his national side since his debut in August 2016 and helped Morocco to win their first African Nations Championship on home turf in 2018. He then played a big role in Morocco reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Morocco have made a perfect start to their CAF Group E qualifying campaign, with five wins from five matches played, 14 goals scored and just two conceded. Aguerd has started all five qualifiers, scoring in a 2-0 home win over Tanzania in the most recent played in March this year.
With Eritrea pulling out, Morocco top Group E on 15 points, with Tanzania on nine from five matches played, Zambia on six from five, Niger on six from four and Congo without a point from their five games.
Morocco will host Niger at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on Friday 5 September at 8pm WEST (8pm BST). They will then travel 4,000 miles south east to face Zambia at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Monday 8 September at 3pm CAT (2pm BST).
Four points from those two games will guarantee top spot and automatic qualification for next summer’s World Cup in North America.
