Regragui Fires Warning To African Teams

Moroccan coach Walid Regragui took a step back from the defeat against Croatia (1-2) in the third place game on Saturday and now wants to be African champion at the next AFCON.

Walid Regragui, despite the failure of his troops in the third place game against Croatia (1-2), once again gave an excellent image of his country during the post-match press conference . His players, at the final whistle, struggled to control their nerves and threw themselves on the referee whom they accused of having denied them two penalties. A somewhat mediocre end to the tournament as Morocco seduced so much during their month’s stay in Doha. However, the success of the Croats, less exhausted and
more technical, was deserved.

However, Regragui, in a few sentences, put everything back in the right direction. “Hiding behind arbitration is not Moroccan. Above all, we must not say that the referee was disrespectful to us. When we lose, there is bound to be disappointment, but what will remain is the impact of our tournament on African football. Frankly, congratulations to Croatia who deserve this third place. »

Very quickly, the Moroccan coach replaced the discussion on the heels that his country would later harvest from this Qatari campaign. “If France or Croatia beat us, it was because they had more experience than us at the top level. There, we are in the process of reaping it and it will be useful later. We were just beaten on details. Which means we’re very close. The goal remains to win the World Cup. »

For Regragui, the time when African selections were satisfied to pass the first round is over. “Now you have to be in the round of 16 or at least the quarter-finals all the time. We will go from five qualified teams to nine in 2026. This will inevitably help. And I repeat, in fifteen or twenty years, for sure, an African team will win the World Cup. »

From the World Cup, Walid Regragui says he retains only one image. Which repeated itself four times. “With each of our victories, we have seen the Moroccan people take to the streets. And His Majesty (King Mohamed VI) came down with them,” he added before sending a message to African adversaries. “We are going to work now to win the AFCON. I told my players that we cannot be kings of the world before being kings of our continent. »