Wydad AC

The signing was completed during the early-season international break. Ziyech, then 32, had ended his Galatasaray spell after one season and was a free agent. Wydad moved fast: a publicly announced offer, a private club visit by Ziyech to Casablanca, and a two-year contract signed inside three weeks. The fee was nominal because of the free-agent status; the salary package, not officially disclosed, was reported in the Moroccan and French press as significantly above any prior Wydad contract and roughly half of Ziyech's prior Galatasaray wage.

Ziyech's stated motivation was personal: 'to play football in Morocco and re-connect to my ancestral roots'. He grew up in Dronten, the Netherlands, came through the Heerenveen academy, broke through at FC Twente, won three Eredivisie titles and one Champions League final at Ajax, then moved to Chelsea in 2020 (where he won the 2020-21 Champions League) and Galatasaray in 2023. His Moroccan international career has 64 caps and 25 goals, including the AFCON 2025 group-stage and knockout-round contributions.

On the pitch the impact has been immediate: Ziyech is the focal creative point in Wydad's 4-3-3, with Nordin Amrabat as the senior wing pairing and the Wydad academy graduates around them. Off the pitch the impact is commercial — Wydad merchandise sales, Ultras Winners 2005 attendance figures and TV rights value have all moved measurably since the signing. The Botola Pro broadcast partner beIN Sports MENA brought forward two Wydad fixtures into prime-time slots after the deal.

1992 was the first. Wydad reached the final of the African Cup of Champions Clubs and beat Al-Hilal Omdurman of Sudan over two legs — 0-0 in Khartoum, 1-1 in Casablanca, 4-3 on penalties after extra time. The Moroccan winning goal in the second leg was scored by Mohamed Babatounde, the Beninese-born forward. The trophy was Wydad's first major continental honour and arrived under coach Aziz Lazrak.

2017 was the second. Wydad reached the final under coach Hussein Ammouta and beat Egypt's Al Ahly 2-1 on aggregate (1-1 in Alexandria, 1-0 in Casablanca on 4 November 2017). Walid El Karti scored the decisive goal at Stade Mohammed V from a 69th-minute set-piece, capping a tournament campaign that ran through Étoile du Sahel, Esperance de Tunis and ultimately Al Ahly. The victory ended a 25-year wait between continental titles.

2022 was the third — and the most one-sided. CAF used a single-leg final format at the Stade Mohammed V on 30 May 2022. Walid Regragui's Wydad beat Al Ahly 2-0 in front of 47,000, with Zouheir El Moutaraji scoring both goals. Three months later Regragui took the Morocco national job and led the country to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals. Wydad's three CAF Champions League titles are joint-most by a Moroccan club, equal with Raja CA.

The stadium opened in 1955 and has been renovated multiple times — most recently for AFCON 2025. Capacity for major fixtures is 45,891. Both Casablanca clubs use it, with Wydad as the historical primary tenant. Match-day arrival rituals are well-documented: the Wydad supporters mass at Place des Nations Unies in central Casablanca two hours before kick-off and walk to the stadium together via Boulevard Zerktouni, a route that has been part of derby-day choreography since the 1980s.

Ultras Winners 2005 are Wydad's primary supporters' group, founded in 2005 in the Curve Sud. They have been voted the world's best ultras four times (2015, 2017, 2019, 2022) by ultras-magazine European-network polls. Their derby tifos against Raja routinely cover the entire Curve Sud and have been imitated by ultras across North Africa. The group has had run-ins with Moroccan authorities — most prominently in 2018 and 2022 — over banner content and pyrotechnics, with periodic match-day bans imposed.