Morocco face Ghana: can the Atlas Lions break the Queiroz curse?

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has announced it will play a friendly against Ghana during the upcoming international break, handing Morocco the chance, in a friendly at least, to gain revenge on Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz.

An official statement released today, Thursday, confirmed the match will take place on 4 October at the Grand Stade de Tanger.

منتخبنا الوطني يواجه منتخب غانا وديًا يوم الأحد 4 أكتوبر بالملعب الكبير لطنجة Our National Team will face Ghana 🇬🇭 in a friendly match on Sunday, October 4, at the Grand Stadium of Tangier 💪#DimaMaghrib 🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/oMxKt46Ur3 — Équipe du Maroc (@EnMaroc) September 17, 2026

The fixture follows Morocco's two matches against Gabon and Lesotho on 25 and 29 September, part of the first and second rounds of qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

Queiroz is in his second spell with Ghana, having steered the Black Stars into the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup.

Morocco's record against him makes grim reading. The Atlas Lions have never beaten the Portuguese, despite facing him with four different national teams. Ghana will be the fifth.

Four encounters without a Moroccan victory

Statistics from "Transfermarkt" show Morocco have met Queiroz four times across all competitions, losing three and drawing one.

The first meeting dates back 24 years, in the group stage of the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, when Queiroz led South Africa to a 3-1 win over Morocco.

Sixteen years later, the two crossed paths again, this time in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup with Queiroz in charge of Iran. The Asian side edged it 1-0.

Egypt provided the third instalment in the quarter-finals of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, the Portuguese coach guiding the Pharaohs to a 1-0 win that dumped the Atlas Lions out.

Last year brought the most recent chapter. Queiroz, then coach of Oman, faced Morocco in the group stage of the Arab Cup, and the match finished goalless.