Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi has challenged his squad to believe they can go all the way and become the first African nation to win the FIFA World Cup, following their qualification for the Round of 32.
The Atlas Lions secured their place in the knockout stage with a 4-2 victory over Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday, confirming a second-place finish in Group C behind Brazil.
Morocco, semi-finalists at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, have once again impressed on the global stage and now turn their attention to a difficult last-32 test against the winner of Group F — likely to be the Netherlands, but also possibly Japan or Sweden.
Despite the challenge ahead, Ouahbi insists his team should fear no opponent and embrace the ambition that has carried them this far.
“We are part of a new momentum where we actually need to believe in that title [of potential world champions],” said Ouahbi.
“How do we reach this objective? How do we reach that target? We need to go all in, we need to respect all our opponents.
“We need to be 100% committed. I believe a lot in my work. We have all the ingredients that we need to become the best nation.”
Morocco’s progress has been built on a strong group identity, something Ouahbi was quick to highlight again after the win over Haiti, which featured six goals and a dramatic contest in Atlanta.
“Our strength is the group,” declared the Morocco coach after the victory against Haiti.
Speaking after securing qualification, Ouahbi added: “I am satisfied. We won this match and secured our qualification. That’s the main thing,” he said at the post-match press conference.
He also underlined the importance of unity within the squad, which has become a defining feature of Morocco’s recent success on the international stage.
“We have a very good team. Our strength is the group. We respect all our opponents, but we are not afraid of anyone and we approach every match with the ambition to win it.”
Morocco’s potential opponents in the next round present a significant challenge, particularly the Netherlands, who impressed with a commanding 5-1 win over Sweden.
However, Ouahbi dismissed any concern over who they may face.
“I have no preference whatsoever,” he said.
“Life is life and we’ll see who we’re going to play again. We’ll need to be ready. This is a World Cup.
“This is the World Cup, and we came here with ambition, and when you have ambition, you have to be capable of playing against anyone”
With confidence growing and belief clearly strong within the camp, Morocco now carry African hopes into the knockout rounds, aiming to build on their historic run in Qatar and push further than ever before on football’s biggest stage.
