Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi vows team will come back stronger after World Cup exit

FOXBOROUGH – Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi promised his team will bounce back from their World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of France on July 9 and keep building as they prepare to co-host the next tournament in 2030.

The Atlas Lions were hoping to at least match their historic run to the semi-finals in Qatar in 2022, but once again, their World Cup hopes were ended by Les Bleus.

The 2-0 defeat at Gillette Stadium near Boston was a repeat of the scoreline when the sides met in the semis four years ago, and Morocco must now turn their attentions towards future challenges after a draining last seven months.

“France are a really great side. We were playing a country who have been to the last two World Cup finals, and they have rarely had as much talent as they do now,” acknowledged Ouahbi, after the last-eight contest was settled by second-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

“We know we can compete, and what we want to do is work even harder to try to do even better next time.”

The defensive-minded Atlas Lions struggled to reach their opponents’ box and did not have an effort on or off target in the entire first half.

Brahim Diaz played as their lone striker, as leading scorer Ismael Saibari was injured.

Their first shot on target came only six minutes from time.

“In the spells when we did not have the ball and let them keep it, we felt they were not dangerous and that we had nothing to fear from that team,” France midfielder Adrien Rabiot said.

The two-goal margin did not fully reflect the gap between the sides. Rabiot and Manu Kone bossed the middle of the park, while Morocco’s teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi struggled to impose himself and lost possession too often under France’s pressure.

“We knew they could have scored earlier. We would have liked to hold out a little longer without conceding, to see how France would react,” said Ouahbi.

“I told the players that they needed to go in with their heads high.”

The 49-year-old was appointed in March to succeed Walid Regragui, who departed following the team’s run to the Africa Cup of Nations final on home soil at the beginning of 2026.

Morocco were favourites to win that competition, but lost 1-0 after extra time in a chaotic final against Senegal, marked by a walk-off protest by their opponents in response to a penalty given to the hosts.

Senegal were later stripped of their title as a punishment for that by the Confederation of African Football. Morocco were declared as the winners, but a Senegalese appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is ongoing.

‘Hotbed of talent’

Another Afcon comes around in 2027, in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and that will be Morocco’s next objective, with qualifying beginning in September.

Ouahbi insisted the Afcon was the immediate priority, before focusing on the 2030 World Cup, which Morocco will co-host alongside Spain and Portugal.

“Before that we have an Afcon and if we want to do well, we need to keep building, try to qualify for that and win it,” said Ouahbi, who was born in Belgium to Moroccan parents.

“We have a huge hotbed of talent and a strong federation, so we have everything you could need to keep improving and moving forward.”

The coach refused to be drawn on whether he felt France would go on and win the World Cup but continued his compliments.

“They want to go all the way to the final and win the trophy, and they have all the qualities,” he said.

“Now... they have to keep going in the next match... they’ll have either Spain or Belgium to play in the semi-finals. I hope it’ll be Belgium.” AFP, REUTERS