Morocco's football federation (FRMF) confirmed the Lions of the Atlas will face Mali in a friendly on Sunday 4 October at 18:00 at the Grand Stade de Tanger, after Ghana withdrew from the originally scheduled fixture. In its communiqué, the FRMF said the Ghanaian federation had informed it by letter of its withdrawal "pour des raisons internes" (for internal reasons). Ticketing opened on 30 September via FRMF social channels, with three price tiers: 300 dirhams for category 1, 200 dirhams for category 2, and 100 dirhams for category 3.
Mali's delegation, arriving from Monrovia after its own scheduled friendly against Tunisia was cancelled, landed in Tangier on 1 October and began training at the Grand Stade de Tanger's annex pitch that evening. The Malian federation confirmed the cancellation of the Tunisia match, which left Mali without a fixture and opened the door for Morocco's federation to propose the Tangier date instead. The match will be Morocco's third of this international break, following 2-0 wins over Gabon and Lesotho in 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers; Mali also enters on two qualifying wins.
Manchester United's official statement confirmed that Noussair Mazraoui "was substituted with an apparent injury during Morocco's 2-0 win over Lesotho," after he went down in the 69th minute following a challenge near the touchline and was replaced by Achraf Hakimi. Reporting on the incident described Mazraoui as having stayed down in visible pain before being helped off by medical staff. Some early accounts suggested Mazraoui could return to Manchester for assessment of the injury rather than remain in camp, leaving his status for Sunday's match in Tangier unresolved as of publication. No Moroccan federation statement has specifically addressed whether he will be released to stay with the national team or sent back to his club.