SALÉ: Morocco’s Mohammed VI Football Academy is strengthening its role as the country’s premier talent pipeline as the kingdom looks ahead to co-hosting the 2030 World Cup.
Founded in 2010 in Salé and spread across 17 hectares, the academy hosts 121 boys aged 12 to 18, drawn from cities, rural areas and the disputed Western Sahara.
Head of recruitment Tarik El Khazri travels nationwide to identify prospects as young as six through a network of local scouting cells.
Around 90 percent of recruits come from low-income families, and the academy covers all needs, which includes meals, housing, schooling and medical care – supported partly by funding from King Mohammed VI.
Daily life at the academy blends intensive football training with full academic coursework. Players rise at 7am, attend classes, train twice a day and complete evening study sessions.
Despite distractions during major national team matches, the academy has maintained a 100-percent high school graduation rate for the past decade.
Education chief Abderrazak El Rhomari says this is crucial, noting that “one injury can end a career”.
The academy’s football output is equally notable. It helped shape striker Youssef En-Nesyri, a standout in Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup run, and has produced 26 players for the Moroccan top flight, with about 30 now in Europe. At least five academy graduates are seen as contenders for the 2026 World Cup squad.
Its impact was underscored last month when Morocco’s Under-20 team won the World Cup in Chile — the first Arab nation to do so — with academy product Yassir Zabiri finishing as joint top scorer.
