By Samuel Akpan
Following a familiar 2-0 World Cup quarter-final loss to France, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi has vowed that the Atlas Lions will channel their latest heartbreak into progress.
Though their campaign was cut short at Boston’s Gillette Stadium—shattering hopes of repeating or besting their historic semi-final run in Qatar four years ago—Ouahbi insists the team will return stronger as they look ahead to co-hosting the 2030 tournament alongside Spain and Portugal.
Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele settled the last-eight tie and left Morocco reflecting on what might have been after a gruelling 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,” Ouahbi said.
“We know we can compete, and what we want to do is work even harder to try to do even better next time.”
The Belgian-born coach had already made clear on the eve of the match that he would not view a quarter-final exit as any kind of success.
“I think it’s important to do everything to try to win and I think we did try everything,” he reflected.
“We want to go even further and win the World Cup, so we are disappointed because we have lost, but we have to accept it.”
Ouahbi was appointed in March to replace Walid Regragui, who stepped down after Morocco reached the Africa Cup of Nations final on home soil earlier this year.
That final ended in a chaotic 1-0 extra-time defeat to Senegal, marked by a walk-off protest from the opponents over a penalty award.
The Confederation of African Football later stripped Senegal of the title and declared Morocco the winners, though an appeal by Senegal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is still ongoing.
With the next AFCON due in 2027 in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Ouahbi made clear that qualifying — which begins in September — is now the immediate priority before any deeper focus on the 2030 World Cup.
“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,” he said.
“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 team that faced France featured several exciting young prospects, including French-born teenage midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, underlining the depth Ouahbi can call upon as he rebuilds.
“We have to acknowledge that they are such a good side. They could have scored earlier than they did, but we wanted to hold on a little longer and see how they were going to react,” the coach noted.
“We have a talented young team and we want to get better. This tournament will help us improve.”
“These players have had an extraordinary year, with an AFCON in the middle, so it is not easy,” Ouahbi added.
“We need to come back in September, pick ourselves up, and keep going.”
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