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| Egypt's AFCON 2006 |
Some of the unpublished posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.
Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.
Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.
Some of the unpublished posts from this blog have been turned into a two-volume book: The Multiverse of the Beautiful Game: National Teams of Pure Fantasy.
Volume 1 takes you back in time and asks the questions every football fan has dreamed about. What if Brazil had a more beautiful team in 1982 — would they have cruised to the title? What if the United Kingdom could send its team to the 1970 World Cup? I believe they would have been the strongest side on earth. What if Argentina had fielded both Omar Sivori and Alfredo Di Stéfano together in 1958? What if Johan Cruyff had lined up alongside Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and Frank Rijkaard? What if Eusébio had played for Brazil? And that's only scratching the surface — Volume 1 is packed with legendary "what ifs" that will keep you turning pages.
Volume 2 brings the fantasy closer to home. What if England had Michael Olise, Erling Haaland and others in 2026 — could they go all the way? What if Yugoslavia had gone to the World Cup in 2018? What if the United States could select more players in 2010? It would be the greatest American side ever. And what if Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had actually played for the same national team in 2006? It could have happened — if the soccer gods had smiled on us.
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
Africa All-Time Team
Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa,
The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa).
The rest of Africa is divided into Northern Africa(including Sudan) and Sub-Saharan Africa. This is my all-time 23 member team for North African countries. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.
GK: Badou Ezzaki (Morocco)
Better known as Zaki, Badou Ezzaki was the African Player of the Year in 1986 after leading Morocco to the second round of the World Cup Finals in Mexico. He also enjoyed a successful career with Mallorca in Spain. He also played for Association Salé, Wydad Casablanca and Fath Union Sport during a 17-year professional career. In 2006, Zaki was selected by the Confederation of African Football as one of the best 200 African footballers of the last 50 years.
Hatem Trabelsi has represented the Tunisia in three World Cups, gaining a total of 66 cap. He was a part of the national team's 2004 African Nations' Cup winning team. He spent 6 years with Ajax, where he was regarded as one of the best rightback playing in Europe and probably the most well-known player from his country. He has also played for CS Sfaxien, Manchester City and Al-Hilal Riyadh.
-- Mustapha Bettache was a pioneer in Europe for Moroccan players. He went to play in France in 1956. He played with forward Hassan Akesbi in Nîmes. Over there, he was considered one of the best defenders in the league. He earned the famous cheer "Bettache-le!" cheer among the fans. He turned down a French call-up and played for Morocco. However, for my Morocco All-Time team, I started Medhi Benatia over him. Benatia was highly rated when he played AS Roma, but he had not lived up to his expectation during his stints with Bayern Munich and Juventus. Nevertheless, in his prime, he was probably more famous than Bettache in the 1950's.
Africa All-Time Team
Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal,
North Africa,
The Rest of Africa(excluding Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Nigeria and North Africa).
Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in the west, to Egypt's Suez Canal in the east.
The United Nations's definition for the region's boundaries includes Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, and Western Sahara. And the Union of North African Football is an association football organising body. It was launched in 2005 by the North African members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia. Sudan is not a part of this association, but I included them on this all-time team.
Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco have qualified for the World Cup Finals. Egypt was the first African country to qualify for the World Cup when they went to the 1934 edition. Tunisia became the first African national team to win a game when they beat Mexico in 1978. In 1982, Algeria beat West Germany 2-1, which was considered one of the greatest upsets in hostory. Four years later, Morocco became the first African country to advance to the second round of the World Cup Finals. In 2022, they also became the first African team to reach the semifinal of a World Cup Finals. Egypt also made history when they won the most African cup of Nations and three straight Cups in the 2000's.
The rest of Africa is divided into Northern Africa(including Sudan) and Sub-Saharan Africa. This is my all-time 23 member team for North African countries. If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.
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| The infamous 2009 World Cup Qualifying Playoff match between Egypt and Algeria |
Team
GK : Essam El-Hadary (Egypt)
EL-Hadary was the starting keeper for Egypt's treble titles at the African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010. At the age of 45, he became the oldest player ever to make ahis debut in a WC Finals history during Russia 2018. From 1996 to 2008, he played with Al Ahly. From 2008 onward, he played for many clubs, including briefly with FC Sion in Switzerland.
EL-Hadary was the starting keeper for Egypt's treble titles at the African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010. At the age of 45, he became the oldest player ever to make ahis debut in a WC Finals history during Russia 2018. From 1996 to 2008, he played with Al Ahly. From 2008 onward, he played for many clubs, including briefly with FC Sion in Switzerland.
GK: Badou Ezzaki (Morocco)
Better known as Zaki, Badou Ezzaki was the African Player of the Year in 1986 after leading Morocco to the second round of the World Cup Finals in Mexico. He also enjoyed a successful career with Mallorca in Spain. He also played for Association Salé, Wydad Casablanca and Fath Union Sport during a 17-year professional career. In 2006, Zaki was selected by the Confederation of African Football as one of the best 200 African footballers of the last 50 years.
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| Badou Ezzaki |
"Bono" spent most of his career in Spain, making over 100 La Liga appearances for Girona and Sevilla. In 2020, he joined Sevilla. He made some important saves as Sevilla won the European League in the 2019-2020 season in which he was named in the Europa League Squad of the Season. He also won the La Liga Zamora Trophy in the 2021–22 season. He was eligible to represent Canada or Morocco, but sicen 2013m he has represented Morocco.
RB: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Achraf Hakimi came through Real Madrid's youth academy, but he first made a name with Borussia Dortmund. He later played for Inter Milan for a season. In 2021, he joined PSG in France. He won the Lion d'Or African Footballer of the Year in 2019. Born in Spain, he was eligible to play for them, but he chose Morocco. He played for them at the 2018 World Cup Finals.
Essam El-Hadary
Essam El-Hadary
RB: Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia)Hatem Trabelsi has represented the Tunisia in three World Cups, gaining a total of 66 cap. He was a part of the national team's 2004 African Nations' Cup winning team. He spent 6 years with Ajax, where he was regarded as one of the best rightback playing in Europe and probably the most well-known player from his country. He has also played for CS Sfaxien, Manchester City and Al-Hilal Riyadh.
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| Hatem Trabelsi |
CB/RB: Mustapha Zitouni (Algeria)
Mustapha Zitouni was capped 4 times by France in the late 1950's. He was on France's 1952 Olympic team. He went on to represent the FLN football team, and then, Algeria when it became independent. Zitouni began his career with OM Saint-Eugène in 1950. He then played in France for Cannes, Monaco and Chartres. His longest stint was with AS Monaco between 1954 and 1958. While in Algeria, he played club football for RC Kouba.
CB: Medhi Benatia (Morocco)
At the time of writing, he is considered one of the top center-backs in Africa. He began his career at Marseille. He first made a name with Udinese and then, Roma, where he was a top defender in the Serie A. In the summer of 2014, he joined Bayern Munich, but he saw limited action in Germany. In 2016, he was sent on loan to Juventus and later signed a permanent move. He serves as the captain of the national team.
Naybet was one of the best African defender ever. He played a record 115 matches for the Moroccan national team, representing the country in two World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He spent most successful period of his career with Deportivo La Coruña in Spain. He won the 1999-2000 league title with them. He was one of the best center-back in La Liga.
At the time of writing, he is considered one of the top center-backs in Africa. He began his career at Marseille. He first made a name with Udinese and then, Roma, where he was a top defender in the Serie A. In the summer of 2014, he joined Bayern Munich, but he saw limited action in Germany. In 2016, he was sent on loan to Juventus and later signed a permanent move. He serves as the captain of the national team.
Wael Gomaa
CB: Noureddine Naybet (Morocco)Naybet was one of the best African defender ever. He played a record 115 matches for the Moroccan national team, representing the country in two World Cups and six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He spent most successful period of his career with Deportivo La Coruña in Spain. He won the 1999-2000 league title with them. He was one of the best center-back in La Liga.
CB: Wael Gomaa (Egypt)
Wael Gomaa was one of the best African centerback of his generation and perhaps all-time. He was a key player for Egypt as they won three straight African Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010. At the international level, he had 117 caps for Egypt between 2001 and 2013. He spent most of his career with Al Ahly. He won six CAF Champions' league and 8 domestic leagues with the club.
LB: Abdelsalem Ben Miloud Salem (Morocco)
DM: Rifaat El-Fanagily (Egpyt)
Rifaat El-Fanagily was born in 1936. He is considered one of the best Egyptian players of all-time. He made his national team debut in 1956. He won the 1957 and 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and represented his country in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics, playing under the United Arab Republic banner on both occassions. At the domestic club level, Rifaat El-Fanagily played for Al Ahly during his career between 1955 and 1967.
Wael Gomaa was one of the best African centerback of his generation and perhaps all-time. He was a key player for Egypt as they won three straight African Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010. At the international level, he had 117 caps for Egypt between 2001 and 2013. He spent most of his career with Al Ahly. He won six CAF Champions' league and 8 domestic leagues with the club.
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| Wael Gomma |
Essam El-HadaryRB: Hertem Trabelsi (Tunisia)
Ben Miloud Salem started his career in Morocco with Wydad Casablanca. He moved to France in 1946. He spent 10 seasons with Olympique de Marseille, winning the league title once in 1948. He played a single season with Toulouse FC before retiring. He retired from football before Morocco played its first international game in 1957. He was uncapped.DM: Rifaat El-Fanagily (Egpyt)
Rifaat El-Fanagily was born in 1936. He is considered one of the best Egyptian players of all-time. He made his national team debut in 1956. He won the 1957 and 1959 Africa Cup of Nations, and represented his country in the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics, playing under the United Arab Republic banner on both occassions. At the domestic club level, Rifaat El-Fanagily played for Al Ahly during his career between 1955 and 1967.
CM/DM: Abderrahman Mahjoub (Morocco)
Born in Morocco, he represented France at the World Cup Finals in 1954. He captained Morocco at the 1962 World Cup. Known as Prince du Parc (Prince of the Park) in his playing days for his dominant control of the midfield, was one of the best Arab players of his generation, and one of the few who graced the sports fields of Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a long time member of Racing Club of Paris.AM: Larbi Benbarek (Morocco)
Larbi Benbarek was born and raised in Morocco in the period when the country was under the French rule. He was the first Black player to reach stardom in Europe, earning the nick name "Black Pearl". He made his name with Stade Francasis Paris. In 1948, he moved to Atletico Madrid, where he reached the height of his career and won two La Liga title. He is considered one of the greatest ever French player. He was capped 19 times between 1938 and 1954.
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| Larbi Benbarek |
AM: Lakhdar Belloumi (Algeria)
Lakhdar Belloumi is considered to be the best Algerian player of all-time. He scored one of the goals that beat West Germany at the 1982 World Cup Finals. He is voted as the 4th best African player of the century. He holds the record as the most capped Algerian player with 147 national caps. He won the African Player of the Year award in 1981. He also played in the 1980 Olympic Games. Despite interests from European clubs, he stayed in Algeria during his career.
CM: Nasr El-Din Abbas (Sudan)
Nasr El-Din Abbas is considered to be Sudan's greatest player. His nickname was Jaxa. He led Sudan to finish as the champion of the 1970 African Cup of Nations and also the runner-up in 1963. The result was the greatest ever for the nation of Sudan. At the club level, Nasr El-Din Abbas spent his entire career playing for Al Hilal Educational Club in Sudan between 1963 and 1976.RW: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Born in France, Riyad Mahrez joined Leicester from La Harve in 2014. He helped Leicester Town to win the Premiership in 2015-2016. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year as he helped Leicester City win the Premier League. In 2018, he joined Manchester City. For the national team, he was eligible to play for France. He was selected to play for Algeria at Brazil 2014, but only played in one match.
Born in France, Riyad Mahrez joined Leicester from La Harve in 2014. He helped Leicester Town to win the Premiership in 2015-2016. He won the PFA Players' Player of the Year, and was a member of the Premier League PFA Team of the Year as he helped Leicester City win the Premier League. In 2018, he joined Manchester City. For the national team, he was eligible to play for France. He was selected to play for Algeria at Brazil 2014, but only played in one match.
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| Riyad Mahrez |
Dahleb held the record for all-time leading scorer for Paris Saint-Germain in the French first division with 85 goals before being surpassed by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Dahleb is the club's third all-time goalscorer in all competitions, with 98 goals. He also played for Sedan and Nice. Dahleb played with the Algerian national team in the 1982 FIFA World Cup, where Algeria beat West Germany.
FW/LW: Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria)
Abdelaziz Ben Tifour played for France at the 1954 World Cup Finals. He had a notable career in the French league, especially with Nice. He was one of the founding member of FLN Algeria national team. He played for Nice. He moved to Troyes AC after six seasons with Nice in 1954 and then signed for AS Monaco in 1956.AM: Tarak Dhiab (Tunisia)
Tarak Dhiab was probably the most famous footballer from Tunisia. He won the African Footballer of the Year in 1977. He led Tunisia to World Cup Finals in 1978, when Tunisia became the first African countries to win a World Cup match. He was widely considered one of the best players from his country. He was chosen the Tunisian footballer of the 20th century. He played mainly for Espérance Sportive de Tunis. From 1978 to 1980, he played in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli Saudi FC.
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| Tarak Dhiab |
ST: Hossam Hassan (Egypt)
Hossam Hassan was an icon in Egypt in the 1990's. He is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 176 appearances. He represented the national team in the 1990 World Cup and seven Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, winning three of them. He spent most of his career with Al Ahly, but he won the CAF Champions' League in 2002 with Zamalek SC. He also played briefly in Greece and Switzerland, but without successes. His twin brother is his brother Ibrahim Hassan, a defender.
FW: Mahmoud El Khatib (Egpyt)
Voted as the second best player in Africa's history. He was considered to be an icon in Egypt. He spent 12 seasons with Al Ahly. He won the Egyptian League title ten times, the Egyptian Cup six times, The African Cup Winner's Cup three times, and the African Champions League twice with his club El Ahly. He was capped 54 times. He won the 1986 Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
ST: Rabah Madjer (Algeria)
Rabah Madjer is probably the most successful Algerian player in Europe. He scored the first goal of the 2-1 victory over West Germany at the 1982 World Cup Finals. Five years later, he again broke the Germans' hearts when he scored a goal and set up another as Porto beat Bayern Munich at the European Cup Final in 1987. He played 87 times for Algeria. At the club level, he played domestic football in Algeria, France, Qatar and Portugal. As mentioned, Porto was his greatest stint.
ST/RW: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
"Mo" Salah played with El Mokawloon in Egypt before heading to play for Basel in Switzerland. In 2013, he won the best player award in Switzerland. He earned a big move to Chelsea in 2014, but he ended up with a loan move to Fiorentina and Roma. In 2017, he moved to Liverpool after starring for Roma. In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990. In the World Cup Finals, he scored a single goal.
Voted as the second best player in Africa's history. He was considered to be an icon in Egypt. He spent 12 seasons with Al Ahly. He won the Egyptian League title ten times, the Egyptian Cup six times, The African Cup Winner's Cup three times, and the African Champions League twice with his club El Ahly. He was capped 54 times. He won the 1986 Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
ST: Rabah Madjer (Algeria)
Rabah Madjer is probably the most successful Algerian player in Europe. He scored the first goal of the 2-1 victory over West Germany at the 1982 World Cup Finals. Five years later, he again broke the Germans' hearts when he scored a goal and set up another as Porto beat Bayern Munich at the European Cup Final in 1987. He played 87 times for Algeria. At the club level, he played domestic football in Algeria, France, Qatar and Portugal. As mentioned, Porto was his greatest stint.
ST/RW: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
"Mo" Salah played with El Mokawloon in Egypt before heading to play for Basel in Switzerland. In 2013, he won the best player award in Switzerland. He earned a big move to Chelsea in 2014, but he ended up with a loan move to Fiorentina and Roma. In 2017, he moved to Liverpool after starring for Roma. In 2017, he helped Egypt for their first World Cup Finals since 1990. In the World Cup Finals, he scored a single goal.
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| Mohamed Salah |
Honorable Mention
Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria), Ali Fergani(Algeria), Rachid Mekhloufi (Algeria), Hacene Lalmas(Algeria), Mustafa Kamel Mansou (Egypt), Tahar El-Khalej (Morocco), Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Ibrahim Youssef (Egypt), Ibrahim Hassan (Egypt), Hany Ramzy (Egypt), Mustapha Hadji (Morocco), Youssef Chippo (Morocco), Salahedinne Bassir (Morocco), Hassan Akesbi (Morocco), Mustapha Bettache (Morocco), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco), Abdelmajid Dolmy (Morocco), Mohamed Timoumi (Morocco), Fawzi Al Issawi (Libya), Abdelmajid Chetali (Tunisia), Noureddine Diwa (Tunisia), Khaled Badra (Tunisia), Sadok Sassi (Tunisia), Ali Gagarin (Sudan), Siddiq Mohammed Manzul (Sudan), Abdel Moneim Mustafa Hussein (Sudan), Noureddine Diwa (Sudan), Ali Gagarin (Sudan), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco).
Squad Explanation
-- Originally, I did not have time to research on all-time teams for Morocco, Egypt and Algeria. So I created this team as a combined team for them. Since then, I created all-time teams for all of them. In March, 2023, I did a review of the team. I was close to redo the entire team.
-- I considered FLN (Algeria) and other representative sides that existed before the foundation of their respective country's national teams as national teams.
-- Eight came from Morocco and six from Egypt and Algeria each. Tunisia provided two players while the last one came from Sudan.
-- The majority of the team came from Morocco, Egypt and Algeria. Nasr El-Din Abbas (Sudan), Hatem Trabelsi (Tunisia) and Tarak Dhiab (Tunisia) were the only players not from the big three. Tunisia actually have done well in the World Cup Qualifiers in the last decade, but their players were not as well known outside their home country as the other three countries. Because most of them did not play outside of Africa, their exposure outside was limited. Fawzi Al Issawi (Libya) was the only player from Libya considered.
-- I am studying the possibility of forming an All-Time North African team without the big three (Egypt, Algeria and Morocco).
-- Morocco started to seek foreign-born Moroccans to represent them around the time before the 2018 World Cup Finals. I selected three of them. Achraf Hakimi and Yassine Bounou were born in Spain while Medhi Benatia came from France. Abderrahman Mahjoub and Larbi Benbarek played for France before the existence of their own national team. Mahjoub later switched to Morocco while Benbarek had represented unofficial Moroccan selection which I considered to be official "caps".
-- With exception of Mohamed Salah, all of the other Egyptian footballers had limited careers playing club football in Europe. Lakhdar Belloumi was the only Algerian who did not play in France. Two of them actually represented France in football, but later switched to Algeria. Riyad Mahrez was born in France.
Goalkeepers
-- Essam El Hadary was the starting keeper for Egypt as it dominated African Cup of Nations. He won four African Cup of Nations: 1998, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He was chosen the best keeper in 2006, 2008 and 2010. I admitted that I switched my criteria all the time. Sometimes, the lack of European exposure hurt a player's chance on my blog teams, but on this occasion, I honoured the Egyptian goalkeeper for his achievement in Africa. He is probably the greatest African goalkeeper in the history of the African Nations' Cup. Many many people listed him as one of Africa's greatest goalkeepers.
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| Essam El-Hadary -- Badou Ezzaki is probably the greatest goalkeeper from North Africa. He was voted 4th in Africa's greatest goalkeeper in the Century Poll. He led Morocco in the 1986 World Cup Finals as their captain. They became the first African team to qualify for the second round. He was an undisputed selection. -- After the 2022 World Cup Finals, I replaced Sadok Sassi with Yassine Bounou to the team. He made some important saves as Sevilla won the European League in the 2019-2020 season in which he was named in the Europa League Squad of the Season. He also won the La Liga Zamora Trophy in the 2021–22 season. Then, in the 2022 World Cup Finals, he was sensational as Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup Finals. While Sadok Sassi (Tunisia) was an icon of a generation, his impact on African football perhaps from the limited opportunities in his generation did not spread outside of Africa. Yassine Bounou impressed in the biggest stage in international football as well as a good career in the upper levels of European football. He had done things that no other African goalkeeper could match. |
-- Sadok Sassi is considered one of the greatest players ever from his country. He made his national team debut as a teenager. However, he missed the 1978 world Cup Finals through an injury. In a sixteen-years career, Sassi earned an impressive five league titles, eight cups, including three for Tunisia and the Maghreb. In 1972, he was goalkeeper for the African team at the mini-World Cup, hosted by Brazil.
-- Mustafa Mansour played for Queens' Park FC in the 1930's after the 1936 World Cup Finals. It was a milestone for North African goalkeepers.
Defenders
-- For the modern eras, Noureddine Naybet is probably the most famous central defender from North Africa due to the fact he played for Deportivo La Coruna when it was known as the"Súper Dépor". They were a top team in Spain when La Liga was considered the best in the world. Wael Gomaa "The Rock" is considered to be Egypt's greatest ever defender. He won three AFCON. Both were the top defenders from this region.
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| Noureddine Naybet |
-- Until the emerge of Wael Gomma, Ibrahim Youssef was considered Egypt's greatest defender, but outside of Africa, he was unknown. Hany Ramzy was one of the most successful Egyptian to play football in Europe, but Medhi Benatia of Morocco played for the bigger clubs and more important tournaments and matches. So I put Menatia ahead of them. I took Zitouni and Benatia over them because exposure outside Africa.
-- In 1962 World Cup continental playoff, he played two legendary matches against Spain that featured Alfredo Di Stefano. Mustapha Zitouni was capped 4 times by France in the late 1950's, but he switched to Algeria after Algeria gained independence. It was liked some of the Soviet and Yugoslav player switching to a newly independent state. He was eligible since he did play for Algeria, but I only put him on honorable mention. He was a righback or a central defender. Both players were pioneers in Europe while making the highest level.
-- Hakimi already stood out in his club career with Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and PSG. He was a big contributor as Morocco reached the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup Finals. Trabelsi has represented the Tunisia in three World Cups, gaining a total of 66 cap. He was a part of the national team's 2004 African Nations' Cup winning team. He spent 6 years with Ajax, where he was regarded as one of the best rightbacks playing in Europe and probably the most well-known player from his country.
-- Claudio Gentile was born in Libya, but of course, he is ineligble.
-- Abdelsalem Ben Miloud Salemt was a left-sided defender in his time, but in the modern game, he would not be considered a leftback. The leftback in general is weak in Africa so I had to take him. He spent 10 seasons with Olympique de Marseille, winning the league title once in 1948. He was among the top ten in appearances for them. He was one of the first African defenders to shine in Europe. He retired from football before Morocco played its first international game in 1957.
Midfielders/Wingers
-- Rifaat El- Fanagili was chosen the best defender of the 1960 Olympic football tournament in Rome, but I took him as a defensive midfielder because this team lacked defensive midfielders. He was known to be one of Egypt's greatest midfielders.
-- Abderrahmane Mahjoub had represented France in the 1954 World Cup, but he later captained Morocco in the 1962 World Cup qualifying rounds. I believed he started as an attack midfielder with Racing Club Paris in 1951 earning the nickname "le Prince du Parc". The following year, with the arrival of the Brazilian Yeso Amalfi and forward Thadée Cisowski, he stepped back to a more defensive role. According to different sources, he was likely to be a attack midfielder, but possibly a defensive midfielder. He was even listed as a centre-half. So I put him as a central midfielder.
-- Ali Fergani was an attack midfielder, but became the defensive presence on the 1982 World Cup team. He was a "two-way" midfielder. He came third for the African Footballer of the Year award in 1981. Abdelmajid Dolmy (Morocco) was also a noted defensive midfielder. He was the only Moroccan footballers who were on the 1972 AFCON winning team as well as the 1986 World Cup team when they reached the second round. Both were probably needed by this team, but I decided to stay with two defensive midfielders. This team would be very unbalanced.
-- The team had too many attack midfielders. First, I took Larbi Benbarek, Mahmoud El Khatib and Lakhdar Belloumi. Larbi Benbarek actually played a few times for Morocco in the late 1930's before the Royal Moroccan Football Federation was founded in 1955. In 1937, he represented a Moroccan representative side and beat France 4-2. I recognised that team as an official national team. He was one of the best on the field. It was the year before he transferred to Olympique de Marseille. I found some evidence that he also played in the 1940's, but I needed to look further into the topic. He was not selected for my France All-Time team because I already had Raymond Kopa, Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, but he was one of the best players ever played for France. Mahmoud El Khatib was voted as the second best player in Africa's history for the 20th century. Lakhdar Belloumi scored the winning goal against West Germany in the 1982 World Cup Finals in which he became immortal in Algeria. That epic match also put African football on the map. He was also voted as the 4th best African player of the century. He holds the record as the most capped Algerian player with 147 national caps. He also won the African Player of the Year award in 1981.
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| Lakhdar Belloumi |
-- Tarak Dhiab was probably the most famous footballer from Tunisia. He won the African Footballer of the Year in 1977. He led Tunisia to World Cup Finals in 1978, when Tunisia became the first African countries to win a World Cup match. It was a milestone for African football. Then, I took Nasr El-Din Abbas. He is considered to be Sudan's greatest player. He led Sudan to finish as the champion of the 1970 African Cup of Nations and also the runner-up in 1963. I rewarded them because I would like to spread the team around. However, Fawzi Al-Issawi of Libya was only put on honorable mention. He was voted as the best player of the 1982 African Cup of Nations.
-- With five attack midfielders on the team and Mustapha Dahlab (see below) could operate over there, I could not add anyone else. Mohamed Aboutrika was chosen Africa Best Player of the Year 4 times in 2006, 2008, 2012, and 2013 for the players based in Africa. Ahmed Hassan was another legend in Egypt. I also did not have enough a spot for Mohamed Timoumi (Morocco). They were as good as Dhiah or Abbas if not better.
-- Mustapha Hadji may be one of the best players not selected into this all-time team. I rated him highly, but Mahrez won the PFA Player of the Year in 2016 after his club team Leicester won the English league title. His career with Manchester City spoke volume. Internationally, he also led Algeria to the AFCON 2019 title. Mahrez was selected over Hadji for those reasons. Mohamad Salah can operate as a right wing-forward, keeping Hadji out of the team.
-- The choices for the wide player on the left were not as good. I took two players whose reputation was for other positions. Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria) was mainly a forward, but he could also play as a left wing. He contributed to the birth of Algerian football as one of the reason why he was selected. Mustapha Dahlab still holds the records of being the fourth-highest goalscorer for Paris Saint-Germain and sixth all-time goalscorer in all competitions. He started as a left winger and later played in the midfield. From his Youtube highlights, he was lethal on the left wing. He also wore the number 11 jersey for PSG, a number usually designated for the position.
Forward
-- Just Fontaine was born in Morocco of a French father and a Spanish mother. I found no record of him playing for any Moroccan representative side. He began his amateur career at USM Casablanca, where he played from 1950 to 1953. He played for France so he was ineligible.-- Mohamed Salah earned his spot after his story book season in 2017-2018. With Liverpool, he won every possible major trophies. He also won many individual awards including African Player of the Year, the PFA and FWA Player of the year.
-- Ahmed Faras is considered to be the greatest Moroccan player of all-time. He was named African Footballer of the Year in 1975. He was captain of Morocco for 8 years. He won the African Cup of Nations in 1976. I preferred Hossam Hassan over him. He is Egypt's all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 176 appearances. He also took Egypt to the 1990 World Cup Finals. The two was very close.
-- I did not have any space for Rachid Mekhloufi. He is the all-time leading scorer for Saint-Etienne in France, where he played from 1954 to 1958. He was capped by France, but later played for FLN. He disappeared from the national team duty for France against Switzerland on April, 1958 to join the FLN team. Because of that, he missed the 1958 World Cup Finals. One source called him France's best player at the time, but France also had Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine on the team. Instead, I went with Rabah Madjer and Abdelaziz Ben Tifour.
-- With Porto, Rabah Madjer won nine major titles during his six-year spell, including the 1987 European Cup. Furthermore, he helped Algeria to beat West Germany in the 1982 World Cup Finals, which was considered a big victory for African football. Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (Algeria)
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| Abdelaziz Ben Tifour |
Formation
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