Morocco’s World Cup journey came to an end in the last eight. Up against a sharper and more clinical French side, the Atlas Lions were unable to repeat their historic run to the semifinals four years ago in Qatar.
Speaking after the match, Ouahbi acknowledged France’s quality and admitted that his team had struggled during the opening stages of the game.
“We have to acknowledge that we were up against a very strong team. We suffered a lot in the first half, and Bounou’s penalty save kept us in the game. After the break, we defended better and looked more composed in possession. There was a period when we were clearly playing much better. It felt as though some players were struggling physically in the first half, but those same players came out strongly after the break.” Ouahbi told beIN Sports.
The Morocco boss also commented on Kylian Mbappé’s opening goal in the 60th minute, which came moments after a sequence in which several Moroccan players believed Adrien Rabiot had handled the ball.
“The goal came from a contested ball. Some players stopped because they thought there had been a handball—and there was one. Whether it should have been called or not, I honestly don’t know. After that, Mbappé produced an individual moment and scored.”
Ayyoub Bouaddi lors du match Maroc-France en quart de finale du Mondial 2026 disputé à Boston le jeudi 9 juin.
“It was difficult at the end, but we have to keep believing and keep working. We also need to strengthen our foundations so that when injuries occur or certain players are not fully fit, we have a deeper pool to draw from. We’re going to keep moving forward—we’re not stopping here. We’re very disappointed, but we have to accept it.”
The coach remained optimistic about the future.
“If we continue along this path, the future will be bright. That doesn’t mean we didn’t want to win tonight—we did everything we could to win this game. We came up against a very good team, but we know that our work must continue. We have a large group of talented young players, and above all, we remain confident. We certainly won’t let this defeat bring us down.”
Ouahbi ended with a message for Morocco’s millions of supporters around the world.
“We know what this team represents—not just for our country, but for millions of Moroccans. We can see that people across Europe, Asia and South America identify with this team because of its generosity and fighting spirit. We will continue in that direction. What we want to give our supporters is joy, but also trophies. God willing, we’ll keep working to achieve that.”
