Mondial-2026: le Maroc s'affirme désormais en prétendant
A surprise semi-finalist in 2022, Morocco has grown and is now asserting itself as a contender for the title after holding Brazil to a draw (1-1) on Saturday during the first day of Group C of the 2026 World Cup.
"You ask me if I sign up to do the same route (as in 2022), I say no, I want to go further than the semi-final," assured Mohamed Ouahbi after this entry into the competition which did not live up to all its promises, partly due to a Seleção that was a little off its game.
"We have entered another dimension, we have to accept it," added the coach, after an Africa Cup of Nations final lost at home in January against Senegal but awarded by default in March.
Against Brazil, "we showed that we had ambition, we drew but we showed that we wanted to win the match, that we knew what we were playing at, we also showed a lot of personality," he asserted.
For the past four years, the Atlas Lions have gained valuable experience by maintaining a core group of players based in Europe: Achraf Hakimi, the captain and right-back of Paris Saint-Germain, two-time European champions; left-back Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United); and the versatile Ismael Saibari—sometimes a defender, often an attacking midfielder, and a goalscorer on Saturday—who was instrumental in PSV Eindhoven's title win this season. Real Madrid's playmaker Brahim Diaz has joined the national team in 2024.
- "Different generation" -
A product of the Moroccan youth academy and a U20 World Cup winner in 2025, Ouahbi, appointed in March to succeed Walid Regragui, has also given opportunities to young players, notably offering midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi his first World Cup cap at 18 years old on Saturday. The young Lille player, who only decided at the end of May to represent Morocco after playing for France at youth level, shone in his debut.
"We had two midfielders who had a very big game," commented the coach on Saturday, referring to Bouaddi and Neil el-Aynaoui -- 24 years old and son of former tennis player Younès el-Aynaoui --, trying to calm the enthusiasm of the Moroccan press which praised the Northerner.
"This is a different generation from that of 2022," Hakimi had pointed out before the match: "We experienced the AFCON, we know the responsibility we have. In 2022 we did not have the objective of going to the semi-finals."
Mohamed Ouahbi said he was "very proud" of his players who "dared to play, dared to ask for the ball, dared to play the ball out under pressure" against Brazil, even though the second half was more difficult to manage.
- Areas for improvement -
"It's been a long time since we've had a high-intensity match, so it's normal that we struggled more in the second half," he explained. "The players who came on finished the match well."
Despite the praise heaped upon them by the local media, Morocco still has room for improvement. Highly technical (123 passes in the final third of the pitch according to Opta), the team lacked boldness in front of goal, squandering several opportunities in the first half.
"We wasted a lot of opportunities. In this kind of situation, you pay dearly when you don't capitalize," admitted Neil el-Aynaoui, believing there were "several points to improve for the next match."
The match will be against Scotland on June 20 in Boston, a much tougher team than Brazil. "There will be contact," predicted Ouahbi.
Morocco will finish its group stage campaign in Atlanta against Haiti, who were defeated 1-0 by Scotland on Saturday, and will need to improve its goal difference to finish top of the group. It would then play its round of 32 match in Houston against the runner-up of Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Tunisia). A second-place finish would mean a long trip from New Jersey to Monterrey, Mexico, to face the winner of Group F.
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