Issued on:
Doha (AFP) – Morocco coach Walid Regragui said he believes an African team will win the World Cup in the next “15 to 20 years” after his team finished fourth in Qatar.
The Atlas Lions, who became the first African World Cup semi-finalists in history, lost the third-place match against 2018 runners-up Croatia 2-1 on Saturday but captured the imagination in Qatar.
The next World Cup in 2026, which will take place in the US, Canada and Mexico, will be expanded to 48 teams and Africa will have at least nine places, up from the current five.
“With nine participants, we are going to learn. In 15, 20 years, I am sure that an African team will win the World Cup because we will have learned,” Regragui said.
“We have a stage to overcome. We need to build on that, with hard work and desire. This DNA is not being built just for Morocco, but for the continent.”
Morocco finished top of a group that included Croatia and Belgium, which came third at the 2018 World Cup, before eliminating Spain and Portugal to reach the quarterfinals.
Their run ended in the semi-finals against defending champions France, but Regragui has urged his players to back up their historic display by winning next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
“I told the players in the dressing room, if you want to go down in history, you have to win the Africa Cup of Nations,” Regragui said.
“We need to dominate our continent.”
Morocco have been crowned African champions only once, in 1976, but their World Cup performances showed they are a team on the rise under Regragui, who was appointed only in August.
“Tomorrow morning we will take stock and we will all realize that we have achieved a fantastic achievement here. We have gained a lot of experience in a short space of time,” Regragui said.
“We have gone further than expected, but it is not enough. It must be an example for the future. I hope that everyone (in Africa) learns from the experience.”
“We have a great future ahead of us and we will keep going.
“Of course we have the goal of winning the World Cup one day. There will be more pressure on us in the future and hopefully there will be more African teams following our lead.”
“We’ve shown that we can go toe-to-toe with the best teams. It’s really very small details that determine these games.”
© 2022 AFP
