A gallery: Moroccan football pitches

April 4, 2026Bimbling Beck

We arrived into Nador on the 20th January. On the very first day of our cycling adventure here, the 21st January, I took my first photo of a Moroccan football pitch.

A set of goalposts on a sloping rough grassy area in the countryside — The first of many… [click to view as gallery]

Perched on the edge of a village beside a school, I was drawn to the goalposts which had been erected on an extremely sloping piece of ground. It appeared to be not wholly conducive to a good game of football but I appreciated the effort of putting in some infrastructure for kids to play. Despite me having very little interest in football or football pitches, this first photo started the ball rolling on a little project…

This post features images of only football pitches but don’t let that put you off if you’re not a fan of the ‘beautiful game’. Some of the landscapes we found ourselves (and completely deserted, remote football pitches) in are pretty noteworthy.

Here’s a whistle-stop tour of Moroccan football pitches we’ve encountered on our travels.

31/01/2026 Imouzzer Kandar

A new Astro-turf football pitch with fencing around it in a remote countryside — Notes: An impressively tidy and new pitch with ball net. In a very rural area with widely spaced and scattered houses with no real village centre.

05/02/2026 El Ksiba

A set of goalposts on a muddy and deeply rutted patch of ground — Notes: Good location on the edge of a little village. Ground conditions leave much to be desired.

05/02/2026 Foum el Anser

A set of goalposts on a patch of bare ground, surrounded by small tents and sheds and strewn with rubbish — Notes: Great location at the centre of the village. Placed on the market/Souk square so will be unusable once a week and probably a few days after if the rubbish is anything to go by

12/02/2026 Ouzoud

A set of goalposts on smooth, red, sand ground — Notes: A rustic but functional pitch on the edge of a hamlet although it’s right at the top of a long hill. Lovely views across the valley to the old mud-brick homes.

13/02/2026 Ait Majden

A set of sticks tied together to make a goalpost on a flat, muddy piece of ground — Notes: Found in one of the most remote villages we travelled through which was only access by a dirt road. Tucked into the valley, this was the only flat piece of ground beside the river. The sticks do the job and it looks well used.

15/02/2026 Abadou

A football pitch made up of soil and rubble with kids playing on it — Notes: A bit of a scramble to get up to it but on the edge of the village, a game was in full flow.

15/02/2026 Touama

An Astro-turf football pitch with a club house. Views of snow-capped mountains in the distance. — Notes: A little way out of town but a great facility with a club house and amazing views of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains

15/02/2026 Touama

A rural football pitch with sheep grazing and a lady collection vegetation and loading it onto a donkey — Notes: Another rural set-up. This one included a team of grazing sheep and the lady was collection herbs/plants from the pitch

16/02/2026 Iguerferouane

A football pitch with one of the goalposts fallen over. Behind the pitch the fence posts have also fallen over. — Notes: A really lively village with lots of schools and school children. It’s a shame the goalpost has gone the same way as the fence in the background.

16/02/2026 Ourika

A football pitch on the top of a hill with spectacular views of snowy mountains — Notes: In the middle of nowhere (see location link below). A 30min steep hike-a-bike from the closest tiny village to the pitch. The most spectacular of views of the Atlas Mountains.

Location of football pitch with view of the Atlas Mountains, near Ourika Valley. The Google Maps point shows that kids are using it!

16/02/2026 Ourika

A football pitch with rusty goalposts and a broken net. Snowy mountains can be seen in the background. — Notes: Although the net has seen better days, at least it has one. Stunning views of the Atlas Mountains and only a short-ish walk from a cluster of houses.

20/02/2026 Imlil

A rough football pitch on the side of a mountain with views of snowy mountains in the background — Notes: At an altitude of around 2050 metres above sea level, this was the pitch with the highest elevation we came across. It was an effort to get to from the main village of Imlil but worth it for that view.

The pin on Google Maps for this one also features loads of photos of it in use. Fabulous!

20/02/2026 Imlil

A football pitch on gravel with a bent goalpost and vehicles parked on the pitch. — Notes: Found in the main village of Imlil on the edge of Toubkal National Park. Triple purpose as a pitch, market square and car park. Looks like someone wasn’t looking where they were driving.

Another interesting pin for this pitch. Imlil and the Atlas Mountains suffered a terrible earthquake in 2023. This pitch (as a flat area) was commandeered immediately after the earthquake and temporary accommodation was established here which can still be seen on Google Maps.

21/02/2026 Ouirgane

A goal post on a mud pitch next to a lake with mountains in the distance — Notes: A lakeside location right next to the school in Ouirgane. A beautiful view but high risk of losing the ball in the water

As with the pitch in Imlil above, Ouirgane suffered badly in the 2023 earthquake and again the satellite image on Google Maps shows this area covered in temporary accommodation and shelters.

21/02/2026 Imgdal