{"id":8849,"date":"2026-03-06T05:50:04","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/regragui-departs-as-morocco-appoint-ouahbi-as-new-coach\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T05:50:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T00:20:04","slug":"regragui-departs-as-morocco-appoint-ouahbi-as-new-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/regragui-departs-as-morocco-appoint-ouahbi-as-new-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Regragui departs as Morocco appoint Ouahbi as new coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Published58 minutes ago<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Morocco have parted company with head coach Walid Regragui less than four months before the World Cup finals.<\/p>\n<p>The 50-year-old <a href=\"\/sport\/africa\/63943066\">led the Atlas Lions to the semi-finals at the Qatar 2022 tournament<\/a> &#8211; making history as the first African side to progress to the last four of the finals.<\/p>\n<p>Mohamed Ouahbi, 49, has stepped up from the under-23 side to be the new head coach in a move that mirrors Regragui taking charge in August 2022, just three months before that World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>A statement said: &quot;This is not simply a change. The objective is to ensure the continuous development of Moroccan football through a structured roadmap.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Morocco also reached the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final on home soil, but <a href=\"\/sport\/football\/live\/cgk8rydnnzkt\">lost 1-0 to Senegal after extra time<\/a> in a dramatic match in which their opponents temporarily refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty that was subsequently missed by Brahim Diaz.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;The team needs a fresh face, a different energy, and a new perspective with a new coach,&quot; added Regragui.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I think the team needs a new lease of life before the World Cup, a new vision to continue progressing. My decision to leave is part of this team&#x27;s evolution.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>He had been under intense pressure to deliver a first continental title since 1976, and speculation had been gathering in recent weeks that the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) were set to make a change.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi said on social media how Regragui &quot;left an unforgettable mark on the history of Moroccan football&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco open their World Cup campaign against five-time champions Brazil on 13 June.<\/p>\n<p>The North Africans will also face Scotland and Haiti in Group C of the tournament, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>The Atlas Lions meet Ecuador and Paraguay in friendly matches during next month&#x27;s international window.<\/p>\n<h2>Related topics<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\/teams\/morocco\">Morocco<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/africa\">Africa Sport<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/sport\/football\">Football<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Regragui departs as Morocco appoint Ouahbi as new coachImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Walid Regragui guided Wydad Casablanca to the African Champions League title in 2022 before taking the M&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp1.niviyo.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}