It was Argentina’s World Cup in Qatar but before Lionel Messi’s magic moment, the other team to light up the tournament was Morocco. They became the first ever African team to reach the semi-finals, eliminating European heavyweights along the way.
In doing so, Morocco were more than just successful, they were a symbol, an inspiration. Their combination of defensive organisation with astonishing intensity made them difficult to play let alone beat. All the more remarkable given the preparation time.
Walid Regragui was the coach who made it happen but had only taken charge of his first game less than two months prior to the World Cup. The speed with which he galvanised that group of players was remarkable and a testament to his coaching abilities.
“We had only a few months to quickly refocus the players, get them to adapt to the system that I wanted to implement, and get them to buy into it,” Regragui tells Sky Sports. “I am very happy they accepted. We showed the true face of this national team.”
It changed lives. “Many players’ status changed – and Moroccan football as well.” They won more matches that month than they had in every previous World Cup combined. “It brought enormous global media impact,” he says. “Managing success was not easy.”
The price was paid at the subsequent Africa Cup of Nations tournament in 2023 when Morocco were surprisingly eliminated by South Africa. “It forced us to think about the future. We had to rejuvenate the squad, thinking about the short and long-term goals.”
Building a new team for AFCON
Now, under Regragui, Morocco will host this month’s AFCON tournament on the longest winning streak in the history of men’s international football. Having broken Spain’s record of 15 games against Congo, the run now stands at 18 games. It is a new team.
In a sense, it is a legacy of Regragui’s work in Qatar, although it also reflects the promise of what is to come. Morocco have qualified for next summer’s World Cup and are among the hosts of the one after that. It helps convince players to choose them.
“It is much easier when you offer them the chance to join a World Cup semi-finalist with the opportunity to play in the next two World Cups.” There is Eliesse Ben Seghir of Bayer Leverkusen, only 20 years old. Bilal El Khannouss, now playing for Stuttgart, is still just 21.
Morocco’s Brahim Daz celebrates after scoring during World Cup qualifying in March
Brahim Diaz of Real Madrid has switched allegiance from Spain. Roma’s Neil El Aynaoui and Sunderland’s Chemsdine Talbi, born in France and Belgium respectively, are on board. Barcelona-born Ismael Saibari, PSV’s top scorer, has made a big impact.
“All those I tried to bring in after the World Cup,” Regragui explains. Some had a taste of it in the 2024 Olympics. Others have been added. “We are very happy to have brought in very young players like Talbi. And today, for the moment, the results are following.”
The challenge of relying on a younger group is to find consistency and deal with the unprecedented pressure that will engulf Morocco at this tournament. It is that weight of expectation, even more than the opposition, that is in Regragui’s thoughts right now.
Coping with pressure and expectation
Morocco have not won an AFCON tournament in almost 50 years. “It is a competition that has not brought us much success,” he concedes. Indeed, he was a player when they last reached the final, edged out 2-1 by Tunisia in Tunis in the 2004 final.
“I know how difficult it is for our country to perform in these competitions. Is it mental? Is it adapting to the style of play? There have been many questions that we are trying to resolve and progress through over time in order to fix this situation,” he explains.
Ultimately, however, there is no escaping the truth of the situation. Morocco expects. “The pressure and the responsibility are enormous. It is a truly passionate country. And when we talk about passion, there are emotions that become hard to manage,” he adds.
“The public has been waiting for so long that they cannot stop thinking about it. As a coach, you understand the responsibility. Every day, in the street, wherever we are in Morocco, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t tell me that we absolutely must win it.”
Walid Regragui in conversation with Achraf Hakimi during Morocco’s World Cup campaign
How is he dealing with that? By taking all that pressure on his shoulders. “I try above all to protect the players so they do not feel it. Because if they are affected by it then it becomes even more difficult to play with freedom – and that is the last thing we want.”
He continues: “Putting myself in the spotlight with the press is often complicated but it is one of the methods, a way of putting the focus all on me, of taking responsibility. I prefer people to criticise me rather than criticise my players – no one touches them.”
Regragui’s coaching evolution
Regragui’s coaching journey began as an assistant with the national team aged 37. “That allowed me to cut my teeth and learn quickly.” Five years at FUS Rabat followed. “A club that allowed me to work,” he says. “That is very rare in the Moroccan league.”
In Rabat, he was “able to win titles, test numerous playing systems and tactical ideas, promote young players and toughen up and grow” before adding different experiences with Al-Duhail in Qatar. There, he won the title and worked with big-name players.
The former Bayern Munich and Juventus duo Mario Mandzukic and Medhi Benatia were among those that he learned from. “That helped me to quickly learn how to manage experienced players, players who had competed at a very, very high level,” he says.
Back in Morocco, at Wydad Casablanca, came the greatest achievement of his career in club management. Regragui took them to Champions League success in 2022, beating Al Ahly in front of 80,000 supporters in the final. That earned him the Morocco job.
“It was a challenge that I had set myself. It was not an easy challenge, one of the toughest, but I succeeded. It also helped me grow in terms of handling the popular pressure of a legendary club, with the daily obligation to win every match.”
His coaching ideas have evolved along the way. Initially, like so many others, he was inspired by Pep Guardiola and Marcelo Bielsa. “Legends in coaching due to their thinking and their style of play.” But the practicalities of the job required compromise.
“Once you have a team in place, you quickly realise that you are dependent on the resources and the players available. Naturally, I evolved according to the players I had and what I could implement. I think I have become more of a chameleon coach.”
Morocco coach Walid Regragui is lifted up by his players after the World Cup win over Spain
That was apparent in Qatar when Morocco knocked out Spain with 23 per cent of possession and Portugal with 27 per cent of it. “We more of a counter-attacking team, with a very solid, compact block and a lot of intensity in tight areas,” says Regragui.
“That was not really my style at the beginning of my career, but I knew it was the only way to make a good run at the World Cup at that moment, given the little time we had. So I had to adapt. A coach must be flexible and adapt in order to become a top coach.
“After the World Cup, we naturally evolved with the players who joined us, the quality of the squad, and the fact that we were now facing teams that played the same style that I used at the World Cup. Today, we are more of a possession-based, proactive team.
“My wish is to have the ball but play at a high tempo, with as few touches as possible, to create overloads against the opponent. And when we lose the ball, to be a pressing and counter-pressing team, preventing the opponent from causing us problems.
“I haven’t really changed our basic playing system, because in football, the defensive system is what truly defines shape. When attacking, the system means very little, because I give my players freedom to move, to create different offensive structures.”
It is tricky to find those patterns in international football. “We have to rebuild everything each time with different players, different partnerships. Players must quickly grasp idea.” But Regragui remains unbeaten on home soil. Hence those huge expectations.
The hope is that Paris Saint-Germain full-back Achraf Hakimi will be fully fit before the tournament is in full swing and be the player lifting the trophy at the end of it. For Regragui, the aim now is to view all this as a moment to embrace rather than fear.
“I see it as a great opportunity for me and for my players to enter history,” he concludes. “It motivates me, it challenges me, it keeps me focused on every detail.” Eclipsing that World Cup will be tough. But glory for Morocco in Rabat next month would surely do it.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
