Kautar Azraf: Morocco and Barcelona’s teenage starlet making waves at WAFCON
The 18-year-old attacking midfielder is showing she's ready for the biggest stage.
Nine months ago, Kautar Azraf was walking out as captain of Morocco in the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in her home country.
Her side finished third in a group with Italy and Brazil and failed to make it beyond the round of 16 stage.
Less than a year later, Azraf has found herself starting for the senior team at WAFCON, in place of legendary captain Ghizlane Chebbak.
While recent champions Nigeria and South Africa have already been made to pay for some stagnation in their squads, Morocco have shown good proactivity in preparing their next generation.
Although the vast majority of their first-choice XI continues to comprise players born before the turn of the century, the Atlas Lionesses’ squad includes a good few youngsters. Fatima Zahra El Jebraoui, an 18-year-old goalkeeper, and 21-year-old midfielder Hajar Saïd are some standout names among the rising stars, but newcomer Kautar Azraf has swiftly established herself as the poster child of the new generation.
Rapid rise to the senior team
Born and raised in Catalonia, Azraf would have scarcely imagined playing at a big stage for the then-flailing Moroccan team while growing up. Her talents were spotted by Barcelona when she was just 11, earning her a place in their esteemed La Masia academy in 2019. As it would happen, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) would start investing much more significantly in women’s football, meaning the national team grew in prominence just as Azraf emerged towards the senior stage.
The Barcelona youngster’s first taste of international football was not in the red of Morocco, but for La Roja. She accepted a call-up from Spain’s Under-15 side in late 2022, making a couple of appearances at a Uefa development tournament. Just a few months later, she was invited to join Morocco’s Under-17s for a couple of friendlies, in which she already started to make an impression.
From that point on, Azraf looked destined for the senior team. She represented Morocco at the 2024 Fifa Under-20 Women’s World Cup aged just 16 years old. She would remain eligible for the Under-17 World Cup the following year, starring for the debuting Moroccan team on home soil.
In April 2026, a couple of months after turning 18, Azraf received her first senior international call-up, getting an outing off the bench against Tanzania. Clearly, she did enough to earn head coach Jorge Vilda’s trust during the training camps, as she was named in the final squad for WAFCON 2026 as the youngest of the 26.
That alone would have been a great achievement, but it was nowhere near enough for the rapid-rising Azraf. Having started in both preparatory friendlies for the tournament, the Barcelona youngster kept her spot in the XI ahead of record appearance-maker and back-to-back WAFCON Golden Boot winner Chebbak.
Entirely undaunted by the massive boots she was filling, Azraf impressed on her competitive debut in a 4-0 win over Kenya, with her contributions including an assist for the second goal. She played almost 90 minutes again in a tough 1-0 win against Algeria on the second matchday, further proving her ability to compete at the highest level.
Player profile
Azraf had a prolific scoring record at a very young age, but has since evolved into more of an attacking midfielder at Barcelona. She spent most of the 2025-26 campaign with their reserve team in the Spanish second tier, further honing her craft with the ball while gaining valuable senior-level experience.
Those qualities have translated well at WAFCON, where she has drawn attention for her impressive ball control. Morocco kicking the tournament off against a subpar Kenyan defence was the perfect scenario for Azraf who was given space to operate between the lines as a No 10. She showed great positional intelligence as well as on-ball technique to help string some of her team’s attacks together.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, Azraf could do more with her end product in open play but has already produced some quality deliveries through well-taken set-pieces. Among them was the corner that set up Maryame Atiq’s goal against Kenya, Morocco’s second of the game.
The young attacker produced another impressive display in a very different kind of game against Algeria, who forced her to work much harder to get time on the ball as they diligently squeezed out spaces in midfield. This is where she showed some of her combativeness and physicality, contesting as many as 18 duels and drawing 4 fouls. Standing at 5’9”, she is already taller than many of her teammates and opponents on the pitch and uses her upper body well to initiate and absorb contact. Indeed, her 51.4% duel-winning rate at the tournament so far is impressive for an attacking midfielder of any age.
Big season ahead
Having started and impressed ahead of Chebbak so far, Azraf may well hope to retain a spot in the side going into the knockouts, though the coach may well turn to the more experienced captain. Of course, they can also play together as they did for the last 20 minutes against Algeria, so there is a high chance that Azraf will have some role to play in the big games ahead.
Either way, WAFCON 2026 has already been hugely successful for the Barcelona youngster. She has firmly announced her arrival on the continent’s biggest stage, and looks all set to head to the World Cup next year, if Morocco qualify.
In the meantime, her next target will be breaking into the senior squad at club level. Azraf looks physically and technically ready for the challenge, and could have an opening to compete for. It’s been a summer of change for Barcelona who have lost Alexia Putellas and Salma Paralluelo from their attack. Sydney Schertenleib, Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Cámara have all broken through into the first team in recent seasons and Azraf will be aiming to follow in their footsteps.
*Stats from Playmakerstats and Scoresway.
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