Morocco’s coach Ouahbi urged his players to hold their heads high after their World Cup quarter-final exit to France, stressing that while pride in their effort is deserved, honest self-assessment is essential for progress, BBC reports.
“We gave our all and our best, but we must take stock of the situation. To move forward it’s essential to be objective and self-critical,” Ouahbi told reporters.
He acknowledged the gap between the teams on the day, particularly in a dominant first half for France.
“From kickoff, France controlled much of the game and rarely allowed us to threaten their goal. They had a lot of possession and caused problems on the flanks and through the middle,” he said.
“When we had the ball our transitions weren’t good enough; we needed to run more and to be sharper. That allowed them to settle into a comfort zone.”
Ouahbi paid tribute to France’s quality, noting their superior goal-scoring opportunities and overall dynamism. “They are a great team with excellent players. We lacked ideas and freshness when in possession and couldn’t do enough to create scoring chances. We must accept the defeat,” he added.
He referenced Morocco’s run to the 2022 semi-finals, which again, was also ended by France, and framed the loss as part of a longer journey rather than a final verdict.
“We know we can match top teams, but we must work harder. Today France was stronger, yet we are capable of progressing further and maybe even eliminating them in four years’ time,” Ouahbi said.
According to ESPN, France upped their game in the 60th minute when Kylian Mbappé curved a shot around Yassine Bounou into the top corner, tying Lionel Messi’s World Cup tally at eight goals and bringing his tournament total to 20 goals in 20 World Cup appearances.
Earlier, Mbappé tactic was ruled out for offside after a clever through pass from Michael Olise. Morocco’s best chances came through goalkeeper Bounou, who made several important saves, including denying a sure-shot from Désiré Doué and stopping Mbappé’s penalty after a VAR-reviewed foul by Noussair Mazraoui.
France continued to press, and in the 66th minute Ousmane Dembélé finally added to his tournament tally, igniting a right-footed strike past Bounou for his fifth goal, which is his first, since the hat trick against Norway.
Morocco had threatened late in the first half when Achraf Hakimi’s free-kick narrowly missed, marking their first shot on target.