Head coach of the Moroccan national team, Walid Regragui says the Atlas Lions is currently the team to beat in Africa.

The 47-year-old tactician was speaking ahead of their TotalEnergies CAF AFCON 2023 qualifier against South Africa, whom they edged 2-1 in Rabat during the first leg last year.

Morocco is currently ranked first on the continent, a feat that is accompanied by a lot of pressure and attention according to Regragui who was briefing the media at FNB Stadium ahead of the tie on Saturday.

"Everyone wants to beat Morocco now. The team has done well over the last few years and what I have also learned is that every team wants to beat us, which makes it more difficult for us to win. This also helps us to improve so we welcome it" said the former Wydad Casablanca coach on Friday.

With the pressure to qualify completely off for both sides, Regragui said the match allows for both teams to play attacking football without having to worry about qualification.

"Both teams have qualified so there is not much pressure to win. They have a lot of good players from Sundowns who play good offensive football, but this means we also need to play and show that we are a big team in Africa," said confident coach.

Regragui was flanked by England-based midfielder, Ilias Chair who said the squad had gelled well under the guidance of the coach, who has created a family environment for the team.

"An important thing for us to create a big family and the coach has emphasized this to us. That is why we are strong as a group, and you saw the fruits of that in the World Cup. What is important for us to also prepare mentally because we know that these kinds of games are tough, and we saw in the analysis that South Africa is a good team and is not to be taken for granted," said Chair.

Kick off at the FNB Stadium is 15:00 GMT.