The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway and Saturday sees Chadi Riad and Morocco begin their campaign against Brazil (23:00 BST).
Morocco come into the Finals as reigning African champions after they were awarded the win following a controversial AFCON final against Senegal earlier this year.
They shocked the world to reach the semi-finals four years ago in Qatar and arguably have an even stronger squad this time around.
So can they go one step further this time in North America?
Riad first represented Morocco at under-17 level back in 2018, already on the national radar before he moved to Barcelona a year later.
A landmark moment in his international career arrived in 2023, with Morocco defeating Egypt 2-1 after extra-time to lift the Under-23 AFCON title.
Earlier this year Riad selected that triumph as one of the three favourite moments of his career to date, when asked by the matchday programme.
He said: "Winning AFCON Under-23 with Morocco was amazing. It was a really good few weeks, I enjoyed the whole tournament and to finish it with a first international trophy was perfect."
Later that year he was part of the Morocco senior squad for the senior AFCON tournament, making his debut in a pre-tournament friendly against Sierra Leone.
His first senior goal arrived in June 2024, scoring in a 6-0 win over DR Congo. He arrives at the finals with six caps to his name.
Morocco were one of the few teams to qualify for this World Cup with a 100% winning record in qualifying.
Drawn in Group E of African qualifying, the Atlas Lions won all eight games, scoring 22 goals in the process.
Perhaps even more impressively, they conceded just two along the way. Their excellent form across the last two years has seen them rise to 7th in the FIFA World Rankings going into the tournament.
The standout Finals for Morocco is of course four years ago in Qatar. Again their defence was vitally important.
Progressing from a tough group also featuring Croatia, Belgium and Canada conceding just once along the way, Morocco then kept a clean sheet across 120 minutes against Spain.
A penalty shootout triumph then set them up for a quarter-final against Portugal where Youssef En-Nesyri's goal took them to the last four.
A heroic run was ended at the semi-final stage by France.
Prior to 2022, Morocco's best finish was reaching the Round of 16 in 1986, where they drew with England and beat Portugal.
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir El Kajoui (RS Berkane), Reda Tagnaouti (AS Far)
Defenders: Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV Eindhoven), Youssef Belammari (Al Ahly), Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain), Zakaria El Ouahdi (Racing Genk), Chadi Riad (Crystal Palace), Nayef Aguerd (Marseille), Redouane Halhal (KV Mechelen), Issa Diop (Fulham)
Midfielders: Samir El Mourabet (Strasbourg), Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille), Neil El Aynaoui (AS Roma), Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Bilal El Khannouss (Stuttgart), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven)
Forwards: Abde Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiacos), Brahim Díaz (Real Madrid), Gessime Yassine (Strasbourg), Ayoube Amaimouni (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Morocco have been drawn in Group C alongside Brazil, Haiti and Scotland.
They face Brazil in New York/New Jersey Stadium first, before travelling to Boston to meet Scotland. They round things off against Haiti in Atlanta.
As they did in Qatar, expect Morocco supporters to be some of the loudest and most colourful at the tournament.
This will be helped this time around by a large diaspora throughout North America. There are estimated to be 30,000 Moroccans living in New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, as well as many in Canada.
Expect the national anthem to be lively.
*Broadcasters are UK
