Morocco Showcase Qualifier-Ready Depth with 4-0 Thrashing of Madagascar

Morocco beat Madagascar 4-0 on Tuesday in Rabat, a fully controlled friendly that underlined H. Regragui’s depth options ahead of the summer qualifiers.

Bilal El Khannouss found space inside four minutes and squared for Ismael Saibari to score, the PSV midfielder finishing after receiving the playmaker’s pass in the 4th minute. Sandro Trémoulet was booked in the 17th minute as Madagascar struggled to slow Morocco’s midfield rotation. Saibari struck again in the 25th minute, capitalising on another spell of Moroccan pressure that the visitors could not clear.

C. Martins set Madagascar up in a narrow 4-4-2 but the shape kept dropping into a back five, inviting waves of traffic. Munir El Kajoui barely touched the ball while Sofyan Amrabat dictated from the base, recycling possession with 103 completed passes from 107 attempts. Another warning arrived when Mathieu Acapandié received a yellow card in the 39th minute, a desperate tug born of being overrun.

Regragui swapped six players at the interval. Ayoub El Kaabi led the line, Soufiane Rahimi patrolled the left, and Azzedine Ounahi brought extra thrust from midfield. The pattern stayed the same. Chadi Riad collected a caution in the 61st minute but Morocco continued to pin Madagascar back with Mazraoui’s replacement Youssef Belammari stepping up from full-back to keep the press aggressive.

The late stages produced the inevitable damage. Rahimi converted a penalty in the 78th minute. Seconds later, El Hadary Ylan saw red for arguing in the 79th minute and Madagascar were left to finish with ten. El Kaabi added the fourth in the 87th minute, evidence of how Morocco’s bench pieces replicated the starters’ precision. Ounahi was booked in the 90+3rd minute yet even that could not disturb the hosts’ rhythm.

Tactically this was straightforward: Morocco’s 4-3-3 spacing, with Amrabat anchoring and El Khannouss floating between the lines, overwhelmed Madagascar’s double pivot. The full-backs pinned Madagascar’s wingers, while Saibari’s surges forced the islanders’ centre-backs to step out, creating the space that Rahimi and El Kaabi attacked after half-time. Regragui will note the volume of chances and the 12 corners as proof the pressing triggers worked.

For Madagascar, Martins has a problem. Their back line chased shadows, transitions were non-existent, and the red card for Ylan summed up the frustration. They produced two shots across 95 minutes and never seriously shifted the tempo.

Morocco now turn to the June window with confidence and a rotation map that works. Madagascar must find a tempo change before their next outing or risk another long evening.

Statistics

• Possession: Morocco 70 percent, Madagascar 30 percent
• Total shots: Morocco 20, Madagascar 2
• Shots on target: Morocco 9, Madagascar 1
• Corners: Morocco 12, Madagascar 1
• Saves: Munir El Kajoui 1, Geordan Dupire 5
• Disciplinary: Morocco 2 yellow cards, Madagascar 2 yellow cards and 1 red card

Elsewhere in the window, read Georgia vs Romania and Wales vs Ghana for more international updates.