Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi insists his side are not content with reaching the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and believes they have what it takes to go further when they face France, www.aclsports.com reports.
The Atlas Lions will face France in a highly anticipated quarter-final, four years after the two sides met in the semi-final of Qatar 2022, where Les Bleus ended Morocco’s historic run.
Speaking ahead of the clash, Ouahbi rejected the idea that Morocco should consider their campaign a success already and stressed that their ambition goes beyond reaching the last eight.
“When you say we’ve already had a successful tournament, I’ve always said this: you only assess a competition at the end,” said Ouahbi.
“I will never be satisfied with something we’ve achieved if we are still capable of achieving more. We absolutely want to win and we will do everything we can to win. We’re not going to listen to people who tell us, ‘You’ve already done well,’ or, ‘It doesn’t matter if you lose because France are favourites.’”
The Moroccan coach added that reaching the quarter-finals is not the ultimate achievement for his team.
“I don’t like the idea that what we’ve already achieved is enough and that everything else is just a bonus. There is no bonus. The only bonus is winning the World Cup.”
Ouahbi also confirmed that Ismael Saibari, who scored in each of Morocco’s three group games, will miss the France clash but revealed that the rest of the squad is available for selection.
“But everyone is available for the match except Saibari. This game has come a little too soon for him, but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” he said.
The coach believes both Morocco and France have improved since their previous meeting in Qatar and expects another difficult encounter between two teams that continue to evolve.
“What is clear is that these are two teams that are probably even better today, and that’s completely normal because these are two federations that work very, very well and two countries that work very, very well,” Ouahbi said.
Ouahbi also acknowledged France’s quality, especially their attacking full-backs, but believes Morocco can find ways to hurt them.
“They have a very attacking style of play. Their full-backs contribute a lot and make many forward runs, so that can leave spaces. But the key will be to hurt them when we have the ball. It is not only about the sides. If we can be patient with the ball and find the spaces when we need to, whether it is on the sides or through the middle, we can hurt any team.”
Meanwhile, Morocco forward Brahim Díaz will face his Real Madrid teammates Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni but insists friendship will be put aside.
“They are brilliant players, and also brilliant people. But tomorrow we are rivals, and everyone wants to win.”
Díaz, who has impressed throughout the tournament with four assists, also played down individual recognition and focused on Morocco’s collective ambition.
“The most important thing is not the assists or the goals, although obviously it is always good to contribute and help. The most important thing is the team.”
The quarter-final clash will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Thursday, with kick-off scheduled for 4:00pm local time.
