- Suggests France goal shouldn’t have stood
- Takes positives from World Cup q-final loss
Furious Morocco manager Mohamed Ouahbi has blown the lid off the Atlas Lions’ 2-0 World Cup quarter-final loss to France, claiming Kylian Mbappé’s crucial opening strike should have been completely erased from the scoreboard.
Igniting a massive post-match firestorm, the Moroccan Head Coach pointed accusing fingers at the match officials after a blatant handball in the buildup left his defense completely baffled.
He expressed frustration at the match officials handing of proceedings, insisting that the opening goal should have been disallowed by the centre referee or even having a VAR review.
According to the Atlas Lions manager, an obvious handball occurred in the build-up to Kylian Mbappe’s strike, which completely disrupted his players’ focus during the crucial Boston clash.
Painful Elimination For Atlas Lions
Morocco’s remarkable World Cup run finally ground to a halt in the quarter-finals after losing 0-2 to France in Boston.
Ouahbi’s squad had initially harboured high hopes of dismantling the tournament favourites when goalkeeper Yassine Bounou successfully thwarted Mbappe’s first-half penalty.
However, their resilience finally broke in the 60th minute through the Real Madrid star’s strike, before Ousmane Dembele added another one six minutes later to seal an absolute victory for the European giants.
Ouahbi Knocks Refereeing Decision
After the intense match, Coach Ouahbi criticised referee Facundo Tello for allowing France’s opening goal to stand, maintaining that French midfielder Adrien Rabiot had actively handled the ball before it was snapped up by Mbappe, who ripped it into the back of the Moroccan net.
He told beIN Sports, “The goal came from a bit of a… shared ball, some people stopped because they saw a handball. It was a handball, I don’t know if it should have been called or not, I don’t know.”
But Ouahbi sees positive trajectory despite feeling aggrieved by Les Bleus’ opener. He maintained a magnanimous stance by praising the profound quality possessed by his opponents, noting a collective upward trajectory in his players’ performance, particularly regarding their composure in possession throughout the second half of the match.
The 49-year-old manager added: “We have to admit that we played against a very good team. We suffered a lot in the first half, and Bounou made a great save on the penalty. In the second half, we defended better and, above all, we were more composed with the ball. We were much better.
“In the first half, it seemed like some players were catching their breath. We saw that these same players started the second half well.
“It was tough at the end, but I believe we must continue to believe, to work. We must also continue to work on the basics, ensuring that when there are injuries, players who are less fresh, we can have a larger pool of players.
“We will continue, we will not stop here. We are very disappointed, we wanted more, but we have to accept it.”
Morocco Look To The Future
Following the defeat, the Atlas Lions’ primary focus has now shifted toward expanding their squad depth to combat fitness and injury crises, ensuring the new generation matures in their foundational play.
Meanwhile, France is matching to the semi-finals in Dallas to challenge either Spain or Belgium, with Mbappe still hunting down Lionel Messi’s all-time World Cup goal scoring record.
