Morocco’s World Cup Star Aguerd Credits Defense for Historic Semi-Final Run

Nayef Aguerd made his debut at the Mohammed VI Football Academy. The Moroccan defender was one of the revelations at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where Morocco reached the semi-finals. For the Moroccan international, the central defense, the full-backs and the goalkeeper were the main architects of this World Cup run. "Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui, Romain Saïss and Yassine Bounou are among the pillars of the national team," he said in an interview with beIN Sports.

The West Ham player also praised the dynamic put in place by Walid Regragui since his arrival at the head of the national team. "There is no ’star’ player in the group. This is the mentality that Walid Regragui has instilled. The only star is the team," he said. It is this new state of mind that led to the feat of the Atlas Lions at the World Cup. "We were all there to sweat the jersey and defend the colors of the Kingdom."

It is also with this same hunger to win that Nayef Aguerd and his teammates will approach the Africa Cup of Nations starting on January 13 in Ivory Coast. "Currently, we are seen as the team to beat... For this CAN, we intend to go there confident while remaining modest and respecting all our opponents," said the Atlas Lion, assuring that "our group is ready to start this continental tournament well."

Morocco is in group F with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia. Aguerd’s teammates will play their first match in the competition on January 17 against the Tanzanian team.