World Cup 2026: Morocco still reeling after defeat to France • FRANCE 24 English
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Morocco is still licking its wounds after Thursday's heartbreaking 2-0 defeat to France. Kinala Mbappé opened the scoring after seeing an early penalty denied by goalkeeper Yassine Bonau before Ousmane Dembele sealed France's place in a third straight World Cup semi-final. Despite the loss, Morocco made history as the first African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals at consecutive tournaments.
Let's hear from how fans have been reacting. We expected a better performance from the Moroccan national side compared with the matches against the Netherlands, Canada and even previous matches such as the one against Brazil. But it became clear that France were on another level.
We didn't have many chances, clearly not as many as in the previous matches. So congratulations to France. But we must continue on the path we have embarked on.
Before 2018, we hadn't taken part in the World Cup for 20 years and last time in 2022 we reached the semis and now the quarter-finals. So we must continue along this path. It is certain that Morocco have proven they belong among the world's top teams, even before the 2022 World Cup.
Then in Qatar, the proof was there as Morocco finished in fourth place. They also showed at the Africa Cup of Nations that they were capable of reaching the final, something that had not happened since 2004. And once again in this World Cup, several major teams were eliminated while Morocco made it all the way to the quarter-finals.
This shows that Morocco, praise be to God, have reached a very high level and can compete with the world's biggest football nations. As for coach Chouabi, there has been a major change in his strategy and the way the team plays, in the formation, the style of play and even in the players he selects. If you look closely, he is relying on young players.
In other words, he wants to prepare the next generation and build for the future. His tactics may not have worked in this particular match, but as you know, the French coach is highly experienced and has a very strong squad, mashallah. Nevertheless, that does not take anything away from the work that Ouwabi has done.