Morocco coach Walid Regragui concedes that their lackluster start against France led to their downfall in the 2022 FIFA World Cup semifinal
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Walid Regragui
Walid Regragui, the 47-year-old manager of Morocco, experienced his first loss as a manager of the national team in the World Cup semifinals. With the entire region hoping his team would keep up their remarkable run, Morocco found itself in unfamiliar territory when Theo Hernandez gave France a first-minute lead. After captain Romain Saiss had to come off in the 21st minute due to injury, the coach from Paris altered his team’s formation from a 5-man defense to a more attacking strategy.
Despite holding onto the ball for the majority of the game, Morocco’s players were unable to capitalize on their opportunities, leaving the coach proud of their performance. Possession was in their favor for the first time in the tournament, yet they were unable to make the most of their chances in the concluding third.
In the post-match press conference, Regragui said “We’re disappointed for the Moroccan people tonight, we wanted to keep the dream alive. But we’re pleased with what we’ve achieved. We felt that we could have gone even further but these small details help real champions, which we saw tonight, of course.”
Walid Regragui who took over for Vahid Halilhodzic just before the tournament, shocked many with his team’s success in reaching the World Cup semifinals. The country, which is avidly passionate about sports and whose ruler, Mohammed VI, is an avid football fan, has seen great growth due to the Mohammed VI Football Academy, established in 2009 and modernized in 2019 with a USD 16.8 million investment.
Morocco makes history in Qatar despite getting eliminated in semi-finals of 2022 FIFA World Cup at the hands of France
Morocco will not be the first African nation to become World Cup champions, not in 2022 anyway. On Wednesday, the squad ranked 22nd in the world by FIFA suffered a setback, losing 2-0 to defending title holders France in the semi-finals of Qatar 2022. It was their first loss in 11 matches.
Morocco’s defeat quashed the possibility that they would become the first squad from outside Europe and South America to win the men’s World Cup. Nevertheless, Walid Regragui‘s squad will remain the most triumphant African team in World Cup history. Before 2022, only three African countries had advanced to the quarter-finals, but all were eliminated – Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002), and Ghana (2010).
Morocco may have been knocked out of the running in Qatar, but they still have one final game left to play. They will face Croatia in the third-place playoff this Saturday. Even though this game is often viewed as the most insignificant of the entire 64 matches in the World Cup format, the Khalifa International Stadium is expected to be packed.
Also Read: Karim Benzema can play for France in the 2022 World Cup Final against Argentina due a FIFA loophole
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Ujan Chakraborty
(1240 Articles Published)