Two goals in five second-half minutes. That’s all it took for France to end Morocco’s World Cup dream for the second tournament running — and leave coach Mohamed Ouahbi searching for answers in the cool of the Boston Stadium press room.
Morocco’s quarter-final exit came at the hands of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé, whose second-half strikes sent Didier Deschamps’ side through to the semi-finals and ended the Atlas Lions’ bid to go one better than their historic 2022 run. For Ouahbi, the pain was immediate and unfiltered.
“We are very disappointed, we wanted to progress,” he said. “The first half was very complicated, France had a lot of the ball. When we had the ball, our transitions weren’t great, we had to run a bit more, and France were in a comfort zone.”
Something changed after the break – Morocco grew into the game, but by then the damage was done.
“In the second half we had more possession and had more control of the game,” Ouahbi continued, “but now we have to recognise France is a great team with excellent players. They could have scored before – if we didn’t concede, it would have been interesting how they reacted.”
Still, there was pride beneath the disappointment.
“I like the ideas and the expression of my players, but we have to accept the defeat.”
Regrets?
Asked to reflect on his tactical approach, Ouahbi offered a candid, game-by-game rationale rather than a script.
“We really wanted to do more on the ball,” he said. “I don’t prepare my team to defend high or low — we press in the context of the game and our feeling of the game. We couldn’t press high and had a low line block.”
He waved away any suggestion that injuries or squad depth were to blame.
“I don’t want to dwell on the injured — all teams have injuries. We have young talented players who will grow. We’re not looking for excuses, we had 26 players, but we played a good side.”
And on regrets, more broadly:
“It’s difficult to talk about regrets after the game, so quickly. We got to the quarter-finals, and we must recognise France were very good.”
Morocco depart the tournament as Africa’s last team standing — the same stage, once again, where France ended their run. But with a young, talented core that Ouahbi insists will only keep growing, this doesn’t feel like the last word from the Atlas Lions on the world stage.
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