El-Mourabet, Yassine, Zabiri headline Morocco’s Ligue 1 call-ups | OneFootball

New Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi has named Ligue 1 trio Samir El-Mourabet, Gessime Yassine and Yassir Zabiri to face Ecuador and Paraguay on 27 and 31 March. The Strasbourg and Rennes youngsters could make senior debuts.

L'Équipe reports that the call-ups headline Ouahbi’s first squad.

El-Mourabet, a 20-year-old Strasbourg midfielder, left the Racing academy for futsal before returning via National 3. Called up by Morocco’s under-20s from September 2023 before his club breakthrough, he skipped the U20 Africa Cup of Nations and the U20 World Cup in October, yet has played every Ligue 1 match this season.

Yassine, 20, arrived from Dunkerque in winter and impressed at the U20 World Cup, making the team of the tournament with two goals and three assists. BlueCo signed him for €7.5m, and he already has 11 appearances, four starts.

Zabiri, 21, joined Rennes for about €10m this winter and has logged 26 minutes. A Mohammed VI academy graduate, he struck against Brazil, France and Spain, then scored twice in a 2-0 final win over Argentina to finish player of the match and top scorer.

He turned down other offers to choose Rennes, where Loïc Désiré had tracked him. Whether his minutes in Brittany grow remains to be seen, with Zabiri now targeting this summer’s senior World Cup.

Source: L'Équipe