FIFA World Cup 2022: Semifinal loss doesn’t take away everything we did before – Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui

Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui feels the semifinal loss against France doesn’t take away everything which they achieved in the FIFA World Cup. Morocco’s extraordinary run in the tournament was put paid by France as Les Bleus registered a 2-0 win at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.

Morocco had stunned teams like Belgium (Group stage), Spain (Round of 16), and Portugal (Quarterfinal) to become the first African nation to qualify for the semifinal of the World Cup. They had also managed a draw (0-0) against Croatia in the Group stage and had topped their table.

Regregui’s team conceded a total of only three goals in the six matches they played in Qatar as they brought their best.

Regragui revealed there were injury woes in the squad but didn’t want to use them as excuses after their World Cup exit.

“We gave the maximum, that’s the most important,” Regragui said. “We had some injuries, we lost [Nayef] Aguerd in the warm-up, [Romain] Saiss, [Noussair] Mazraoui [during the game], but there are no excuses.

“We paid for the slightest mistake. We didn’t get into the game well, we had too much technical waste in the first half, and the second goal kills us, but that doesn’t take away everything we did before.

“We realise that we made a great achievement already,. We know that the media, social media, and on TV, we saw the pictures, and we saw that everyone was proud of us in our country.

“I think the world as a whole is proud of this Moroccan team because we show great desire. We work hard, and we played honest, hard-working football.”

The gaffer admitted that his team came short physically against France as his players were not 100% fit.

“At a World Cup, this was perhaps one step too far,” the Morocco coach added. “Not in terms of quality or tactics, but physically we came up short tonight. We have too many players who were at 60 percent and they have been for a few games now.

“Today we had a lot of possession and they punished us when we had the ball. Congratulations to France, we are going to support them now.”

France will take on Argentina in the final whereas Morocco will face Croatia for the third-place match.