Othmane Maamma: Morocco’s breakout star lighting up the U-20 World Cup
Morocco’s return to the FIFA U-20 World Cup after two decades has found a face: Othmane Maamma.
In two group matches the 19-year-old has provided the decisive moments that have taken the Atlas Cubs from dark horses to group winners, first shredding Spain down the right and then stunning Brazil with a scissor-kick of rare audacity. If this is a tournament that forges futures, Maamma looks forged already.
The Watford forward (signed from Montpellier in July) has been Morocco’s spearhead and safety valve in Chile: a direct runner on the shoulder, happy to carry 30 metres in transition, and ruthless when the window opens.
Against Spain he turned defence into incision, burning his full-back to square for Gessime Yassine’s clincher in a 2-0 win.
Four days later, with Brazil squeezing, he improvised the goal of the night — opening his body to acrobatically volley in Gessime’s deep cross — and tilted a heavyweight contest Morocco’s way in a 2-1 victory that sealed qualification.
Maamma’s impact has been as much about tone as numbers. Morocco have been compact and pragmatic without the ball, then startlingly vertical when it’s won. That suits a winger who relishes space and duels.
“I like to sit on the shoulders of the defenders and exploit space. I like one-on-ones, when I can use my acceleration to gain that extra space,” he explained earlier in the week in an interview with FIFA.com.
It’s exactly what head coach Mohamed Ouahbi has asked for: narrow lines to deny passing lanes, then release the wide players quickly and with purpose.
Just as striking has been the teenager’s calm. “Football is football. It doesn’t matter where or who you’re up against,” Maamma said after the Spain game. “You just need to keep a cool head and your emotions in check.”
The message never changed ahead of Brazil either. “I speak of Brazil just as I spoke of Spain. It’s going to be another big game. We’ll do absolutely everything we can to win.” The delivery matched the rhetoric.
Technically, Maamma mixes old-school winger values with modern versatility. He can start wide right and drive outside to cross, drift infield to combine off the nine, or attack the back post from the far side — the movement that produced his bicycle-style strike against Brazil.
At 1.82m, he carries aerial threat and protects the ball better than many pure sprinters; his first touch is typically forward, his second decisive.
This tournament has also underlined how carefully Morocco have built a pathway. Maamma debuted for Montpellier in May 2024, collecting 14 Ligue 1 appearances (two goals, one assist) before Watford moved in the summer, seeing a profile to develop rather than a finished article.
In Chile he has been deployed with clarity. The system demands defensive shifts, then trusts him to decide the transition: carry or combine. His assist versus Spain and finish versus Brazil are two sides of the same coin.
Around him, a coherent team is growing. Yassir Zabiri has provided punch in the inside-left channel, Yassine’s volume of work has made others quicker, while the back line has absorbed pressure with mature discipline.
Ouahbi has tried to keep a lid on the mood — “We’re happy. But it’s only three points, we haven’t achieved anything yet… We want more. Confidence is growing, but we’re going to try to stay humble,” he said after beating Spain — yet even he will recognise how the right talent in the right structure can accelerate belief.
Where does this go next? In the short term, to a last-16 tie with a very different kind of pressure: expectation. Opponents will drop five yards deeper, full-backs will be less adventurous, and the space Maamma feasted on may shrink.
The next step in his tournament will be about variety — receiving to feet and combining in tighter corridors, drawing fouls, and making set plays count. Through two tests, he’s shown the decision-making to adapt.
In the longer view, it’s hard not to project forward. Morocco’s senior side has set a new standard for North African football in recent years; the conveyor belt below them is the point.
A winger who can both hurt elite opponents in transition and contribute in structured possession is a profile every national coach covets. On Chilean evidence, Maamma belongs in that conversation sooner rather than later.
For now, the brief remains simple: keep doing what’s working. Beat your man. Choose the moment. Trust the plan.
In a World Cup that often belongs to the cool-headed, Othmane Maamma has already shown he can decide games without hurry. Morocco have a star for this tournament — and, just maybe, a pillar for the next decade.