The Morocco women's national football team (, ) represents Morocco in international women's football and is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. The team played its first international match in 1998, as part of the third Women's Africa Cup of Nations. The traditional rivals of Morocco are mainly Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt. History After being given a walkover following Kenya's withdrawal from the 1998 Championship, the team made it to the finals in Nigeria, where they lost 0–8 to the hosts before beating Egypt 4–1. Morocco met fellow Women's African Football Championship debutants Democratic Republic of the Congo in the final group game, with both teams having the chance to qualify for the semi-finals with a win. However, the eventual 0–0 draw sent Morocco out, as Congo qualified on better goal difference. Two years later, Morocco qualified for the African Championship in South Africa with a 6–1 aggregate victory over Algeria. However, after the team scored the first goal against Cameroon in the opening group stage match, they went on to concede 13 goals, lose all three matches, and finish last in the group. Their 2002 and 2006 campaigns were both stopped by Mali in the qualifying stages. Morocco had been seeded into the second qualifying round, but two goalless draws in Bamako and Rabat sent the tie into a penalty shoot-out which Mali won 5–4. In 2004, Morocco did not enter, while a 1–6 aggregate defeat to Mali sent them out of the 2006 African Championship and the 2007 World Cup. New era (2020–present) On 22 February 2020, Morocco lionesses managed to win the 2020 UNAF Women's Cup after defeating Algeria 2-0 to top the final standings. After hiatus and lack of achievement, the Women's AFCON was expanded to 12 teams, starting from 2020, but due to COVID-19 pandemic, the first edition was held in Morocco 2022 instead. Using this home advantage, Morocco restarted its women's football structure, rebuilt its women's team that has long been neglected. With greater interest, Morocco was able to create history by reaching the semi-finals in their home soil. With this achievement, Morocco made a historic chapter as the first Arab country to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup, when the country is set to debut in 2023. Morocco went on to make another historic chapter as the first North African and Arab country to participate in the final of a continental