Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi has admitted that France deserved their 2-0 victory after the Atlas Lions were eliminated from the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the quarter-final stage.
Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé ended Morocco’s impressive tournament run, with France advancing to the semi-finals while bringing an end to Africa’s final remaining challenge for World Cup glory.
Despite the disappointment, Ouahbi praised his players’ efforts and insisted the team would use the experience to continue building for future success.
France Deserved the Victory
Speaking after the match, Ouahbi acknowledged that France created the better chances and punished Morocco on the counterattack.
“Well, you have to admit that they had the best chances. They were very effective in transitions too.”
The Moroccan coach admitted his side struggled to break down the French defence.
“We lacked ideas; we lacked freshness to maybe be able to do more with the ball.”
Ouahbi also commented on Morocco’s appeals for a handball in the build-up to Mbappé’s opening goal but refused to blame the defeat solely on the incident.
“It’s a shame. Then, there’s the move; there’s the individual move from Mbappé. We would have liked to maybe hold on a bit and see if we were capable of holding on without conceding.”
He accepted that France were simply the stronger team on the day.
“It’s clear that today, they were stronger than us and we have to accept it, but we feel capable of improving, of going even further and, why not in four years’ time, of competing and being able to eliminate them.”
With Morocco’s World Cup campaign over, Ouahbi has already shifted his attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, where he hopes to guide the Atlas Lions to continental success.
The coach stressed the importance of building towards both the AFCON and the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host alongside Spain and Portugal.
“Before the 2030 World Cup, there is still an Africa Cup of Nations. There are qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations.”
“If we want to get to 2030 in good shape, we need to prepare well for the next matches, continue to build, continue to perform, qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations, and try to win it.”
Africa’s World Cup Journey Ends
Morocco’s defeat also marked the end of Africa’s participation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the Atlas Lions became the continent’s last remaining representatives.
Although they fell short of matching their historic semi-final run in 2022, Morocco once again demonstrated why they remain one of Africa’s strongest footballing nations.
Conclusion
While the World Cup journey ended in disappointment, Mohamed Ouahbi believes Morocco has laid the foundation for even greater success in the years ahead.
With AFCON qualifiers on the horizon and the 2030 World Cup in sight, the Atlas Lions will now look to turn their attention to lifting the African title before welcoming the world onto home soil.
