On Tuesday (December 6th), the Moroccan national team defeated the Spanish national team in a penalty shootout to secure the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. Apparently, no one expected such an event because the Spaniards were the clear favourites. Moreover, many saw them as one of the contenders for victory. How did Morocco, an outside team, be able to defeat such a serious opponent?

The Moroccan national team is the main sensation of this World Cup. They managed to get ahead of the European leaders – Belgium and Croatia – on the way to the quarter-finals. The Moroccans did not concede a single goal in five consecutive matches in the friendly matches against Croatia (0:0) and Belgium (2:0) and before the tournament – Georgia (3:0), Paraguay (0:0). 0) and Chile (2 :0). We missed only 2:1 from Canada in the 3rd round.

The victory over Belgium in general stunned the entire football world. Having in its composition Kevin de Bruyne, one of the strongest midfielders, and the best goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, the national team lost to Morocco.

The victory of coach Walid Regraga, who achieved what other 36 years could not achieve in two months

The main “initiator” of the holiday of the Moroccan national team is considered the new head coach Walid Regragi. He has only been in this position for two months, and in a short time he has managed to surprise the world with his tactical abilities. The Moroccans last left the group 36 years ago – in 1986!

Walid Regraga has a pretty interesting biography. Since childhood, his father wanted his son to become an ordinary worker in the office, because until then it seemed like a symbol of social success.

Regragui himself is from France, but is a native Moroccan through his family line:

“I don’t care where I was born. But I always wanted to go home, I always dreamed of football.”

After retiring as a football player, Regragi was a member of the coaching staff of the Moroccan national team and began working independently with the FUS club in 2014 – winning the country championship and Cup with him. After a junior and successful coaching session at Al-Duhail (he took the national title with the club), the specialist returned to his homeland and became head of Vidad in August 2021. In addition to the championship in his first season, Vidad managed to reach the African Champions League final with the team where he defeated the Egyptian Al-Ahly (2-0). Already in July, Regragi was nominated for the title of best coach in Africa. And then the fun begins.

After such a successful start in coaching, in September 2022 Walid Regragui was appointed head coach of the Moroccan national team two months before the start of the World Cup in Qatar.

It came as a shock to everyone that the Moroccan federation decided to sack Wahid Halilhodzic in August, just over three months before the World Cup, after the Bosnian coach launched a good managerial campaign to take the Moroccans to the World Cup.

But everyone in Morocco knew that Regragui had taken his place at the perfect time.

Since becoming a coach, Regragi has been successful wherever he goes.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine

In African football, Regragi has often been compared to José Mourinho for his tactical discipline and great management skills. How did he change the national team in these two months?

First, the Moroccan improved the team’s defense. The reasons for the success of Morocco are not some kind of luck, but the competent organization of the game.
Often Regraga’s wards are located between the center line of the court and his own penalty area. Prepares to defend and quickly counter-attack. Although the stats make opponents not take this team seriously, only Costa Rica (30.2%) eliminated from the World Cup is worse than Morocco (32.7%) in terms of possession.

In terms of allowed shots (8.3 per game), the team is in eighth place in the tournament.

On the wings of the defense in Morocco, the main stars play – Bayern Mazraoui representative and PSG defender Hakimi. Both are the best of the team in terms of successful fights (4.3 per game) and martial arts good in defense (7 per game). At the same time, Mazrawi impresses with the quality of his selections and the martial arts he earned (85% and 77%, respectively). Hakimi also has good stats – 65% and 63%.

In addition, Ziyech (1.8 per game) and Bufal (1.5) are in the top five in successful interceptions.

Team leader Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech. He is the only one among the Moroccans to have two effective actions in the championship – goal + pass. He is also best on key passes (1.7) and shots (2). However, it is wrong to distinguish only one of them.

The peculiarity of the team is that other players can decide in advance. The same defenders of Bayern and PSG are perfectly connected with the attacks.

second moment – Regragi gives young players the opportunity to prove themselves.

A good coach is someone who trusts his team above all else. Overall, trust is an important component of team success. Walid Regragi is respected and respected by those under his tutelage. And there are several compelling reasons for that. First of all, the new coach brought Mazraoui and Ziyech back to the team, who had a disagreement with former coach Halilhodzic. At the same time, under him, Cheddira, Sabiri and 18-year-old Al-Khannus made their debut in the national team. Ezzalzouli, a former Barcelona player who refused to go to the African Cup in the winter, finally made his debut for Morocco with his help.

It’s also not afraid to give young players the opportunity to shine. Typically, professional team coaches do not trust young players very much unless they show incredible skill and technical prowess like Bellingham or Phil Foden. But Regragi takes risks. And he often justifies his expectation, and the bonus is that young talents are exposed and young players gain confidence.

third moment – Unity and well-coordinated work of the Moroccan team.

The most important thing Regragui did was teach the players how to interact with each other on the field. Morocco would not have advanced to the quarter-finals had it not been for the tightness in their own penalty area. As already mentioned, the defense of the Moroccans has improved significantly compared to the previous World Cup, the legionnaires began to play and the young players opened, the coach found the necessary approach and correctly chose the game scheme.

16 out of 26 Moroccan players were born and raised in another country

Many of the key players such as Hakim Ziyech, defender Nusseir Mazraoui and midfielder Sofian Amrabat were born in the Netherlands.

Also of Spanish origin, Ashraf Hakimi, who joined Real Madrid’s infrastructure at the age of six, goalkeeper Yassin Buñu is of Canadian origin. Captain Romain Sais was born in France, as was winger Sofiane Boufal.

Head coach Walid Regragui was born in Paris before he became captain of the Moroccan football team and then head of the national team.

Regragi has long advocated for players of foreign origin to finally be recognized as “their” in the national team. For this, he was exposed to criticism from the international media.

The day before the match against Spain, the Spanish daily La Vanguardia published a story with the headline “Spain against the UN team”, which talked about the different birthplaces of Moroccan players.

The Spanish publication described these players as “foreigners”, although most of them were born to Moroccan parents. The report states that players chose Morocco over their homeland, which caused online backlash from many Moroccans. In response to this news, Regragui noted that “they care about what the Spanish media say” and that “it is not in our interest to talk about what the newspaper says because we are Moroccans with green Moroccan passports”.

The victory justified his decision to support players of foreign origin.

“Today we showed that every Moroccan is Moroccan. “When he joins the national team, he wants to die, to fight,” said Regragui after the match. – It doesn’t matter to me who is Arab or who is African.“.

Saying that each country has its own football culture, Regragi added that he is pleased to have players from many countries, including Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium.

Walid Regragi allows players to always be with their loved ones

The key to success is another detail, imperceptible at first glance – this is family.

World Cup tournaments can be emotionally difficult for players – they’re away from home, in another country, in another climate for weeks or even months. At the same time, Walid found a way out – his Moroccan mentor allowed the families of the players to stay with the team in the camp in Qatar.

After the dramatic victory over Spain, a video circulated on social media of Regragui running to the stands, hugging and kissing his mother standing in the crowd.

After the match, his mother said that her son has never left France even once in his career. However, this is his first time leaving his home.

Walid Regragui radically changed the Moroccan national team in two months. This coach will definitely go down in history, especially if the team makes it to the finals.

Overall the 2022 World Cup will be very successful for Africa with both Morocco and Senegal in the playoffs. However, the latter was defeated by the British.

Two participants in the playoffs is a repeat of the African record. This has only happened once – in 2014, when Nigeria and Algeria left the group.

After the Moroccan victory, thousands of football fans around the world danced in the streets, unable to enjoy the Africans becoming the first Arab country to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, beating Spain 3-0. penalties.