Ahmed Faras

At both the domestic and international level Ahmed Faras was one of the best Moroccan footballers of all-time. Faras spent his entire domestic career with Chabab Mohammédia, playing with the club for 17 years from 1965 until his retirement in 1982. He made more than 300 appearances for the side and scored more than 140 goals, winning the Moroccan Throne Cup in 1972 and 1975, and the league title in 1980.

From 1966 to 1979 Faras played 94 matches for the Morocco national team, scoring 36 goals, a record that still stood at the time of his death in July 2025. For the last eight years of his international career he was also the team’s captain. In 1972 he was part of the Moroccan squad that played in the football tournament at the München Olympics. In their group match against Malaysia he scored a hat-trick in just six minutes, with the team reaching the semi-finals of the competition.

In 1975 Faras was named as the African Footballer of the Year, living up to the praise one year later with his performance at the 1976 African Cup of Nations. Morocco went on to win the Cup of Nations for the first time, with Faras scoring three goals and being named the player of the tournament.