By James Copnall BBC Sport, Rabat

Lemerre will miss Morocco's first four World Cup qualifiers

Roger Lemerre has been named Morocco coach, according to the country's football federation.

The Frenchman, who has won major titles with both his homeland and with current employers Tunisia, will start in Morocco on 1 July.

This means Lemerre will not be in charge of the Atlas Lions' first four 2010 World Cup qualifying games, which take place in June.

Lemerre has a contract with Tunisia until the end of June.

It is expected that Fathai Jamal, who led Morocco to a 4-1 win over Belgium in March, will continue as interim coach until Lemerre takes over.

Morocco are in Group 8 of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, with Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mauritania.

The news of Lemerre's appointment is likely to be welcomed in Morocco.

Another French coach, Henri Michel, was sacked after Morocco failed to progress beyond the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.

There had been intense speculation in the Moroccan press that Lemerre was set to be given the job.

The Frenchman has been in charge of Tunisia since 2002, winning the Nations Cup on home soil in 2004, and most recently leading them to the quarter-finals of the 2008 tournament.

The 66-year-old also won the European Championship with France in 2000, leading the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry to glory.

But his teams have failed to shine at the World Cup - both France and Tunisia crashed out at the group stages in 2002 and 2006 respectively.

But Morocco fans, who have not seen the Atlas Lions at a World Cup since 1998, will be happy that Lemerre has an impressive record in qualifying his two previous national sides to the world's greatest football tournament.

"It's a good thing, he has all the experience with the French and Tunisian teams, and he has won major trophies," said Hassan Boutabsil, the head of sports at the Moroccan TV channel 2M.