2026 World Cup: Morocco Coach Mohamed Ouahbi Hails France’s Win

Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi admitted France deserved their 2-0 win after the Atlas Lions bowed out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the quarter-finals at Boston Stadium on Thursday night, July 9.

France booked their place in the semi-finals thanks to Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele.

Mbappe made amends for an earlier penalty miss by netting his eighth goal of the tournament before setting up Dembele for his fifth, sealing a last-four clash with either Belgium or Spain.

Ouahbi acknowledged that his side struggled to cope with Didier Deschamps’ team, particularly before the halftime break.

“We have to admit we faced a very good opponent. We struggled a lot in the first half, and [Yassine] Bounou’s penalty save kept us in the game,” FIFA.com quoted Ouahbi.

“We defended better in the second half and were calmer in possession. In the end, it was an individual piece of brilliance from [Kylian] Mbappe.

“It was a difficult feeling, but we have to keep working. We need more options on the bench when we have injuries, absences and fatigue, but of course we’re disappointed.”

Despite the defeat, the Morocco boss insisted the team’s progress in recent years gives supporters every reason to remain hopeful.

“The future will be bright if we continue like this, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t want to win today. Of course, we wanted to win today. We did everything we could to win, but we faced a very difficult opponent,” added Ouahbi.

“It’s a disappointment, of course, but we’ll keep working for the future. We know we represent more than just one country. We represent the Moroccan people, and many countries across Asia and Africa. Many people see themselves in this team, and we’ll keep working to win titles in the future.”