Mohamed Ouahbi’s plan to heal the wounds of the 2025 AFCON

Mohamed Ouahbi, freshly appointed as the new head coach of the Atlas Lions to succeed Walid Regragui, finds himself facing a delicate equation a few months before the 2026 World Cup kickoff. His recent world title with the U20s gives him strong legitimacy in a national context marked by high sporting tension.

The coach’s first major task will be of a psychological nature. He will have to restore the cohesion of a locker room shaken by the lost final of the 2025 AFCON, marked by the trauma of the missed penalty by Brahim Diaz. The new coach has set himself the goal of protecting his Madrid prodigy while recreating a sacred union around the group.

Officially presented by the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, Ouahbi confirmed the appointment of Portuguese João Sacramento as his assistant. Together, they intend to build on the work done in recent years while making the necessary adjustments to embark on a new cycle.

The rejuvenation of the squad is another major axis of his strategy. The coach plans to draw on his knowledge of the "golden generation" he led at the youth level to inject fresh blood, while preserving the balance with the historical leaders of the 2022 World Cup epic.

On the technical level, Mohamed Ouahbi wishes to break with a certain tactical rigidity that has become too predictable in recent events. His project is based on a more fluid and offensive playing philosophy, aiming to allow the Atlas Lions to dictate the tempo of the matches rather than suffer the opponents’ transitions.

Alongside Sacramento, a renowned strategic mastermind in Europe, the new Moroccan bench boss is already working on creativity in the final third. This tactical shift will be tested as early as the March FIFA window, with two decisive friendly matches scheduled against Ecuador and Paraguay.