Morocco Coach Regragui Hails Spain as Toughest World Cup Opponent

"Spain is the best team we have played against at the World Cup. If we hadn’t eliminated them, they could have reached the final. They lacked a striker, maybe, but they had a security in the game that the other teams didn’t have," Regragui said in an interview with L’Équipe.

The Moroccan coach deplored the rumors that Spain let itself be beaten by Japan to avoid meeting Brazil in favor of Morocco. "They don’t respect you," he said, explaining that the match against Spain was difficult for the Moroccans. "We knew we were going to suffer... Ounahi, Amrabat, En-Nesyri had a great game," he added.

Walid Regragui became the first African and Arab coach to lead his team to the World Cup semi-finals. For this feat, he was elected third best national coach in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). The coach took over the Moroccan national team at the end of August, just three months before the World Cup, replacing Vahid Halilhodzic.