Walid Regragui new Morocco coach

The Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) has reached an agreement with the former coach of Wydad Casablanca Walid Regragui to take the reins of the national team, the “Lions of the Atlas”, after the departure of Vahid Halilhodzic, thanked three months from the World Cup in Qatar, local media reported on Monday.

“The Federation has reached a definitive agreement with Regragui covering all material and technical aspects, as well as the objectives to be achieved”writes the news site Alyaoum24.

According to the specialized site Hesport, Regragui signed a three-year contract with the FRMF this weekend.

The official appointment of the new national coach is expected in the coming days, a spokesman for the Federation told AFP, without further details.

The choice of Walid Regragui, already widely commented on, even before the departure of Halilhodzic, is not a surprise.

He “has already started contacts with some national team players”says Hesport.

“Coach Vahid”, at the head of the Moroccan selection since August 2019, was sacked on August 11 due to “differences of views (…) about the appropriate preparation of the Atlas Lions” for the World Cup, according to the FRMF.

The Franco-Bosnian thus paid for his refusal to take over two Lions internationals, Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) and Noussair Mazraoui (Ajax Amsterdam), two players who had in the past declined selection.

In Qatar, Morocco, poured into group F, will face Croatia, Belgium and Canada.

Born in Corbeil-Essonne, Walid Regragui, a 46-year-old Franco-Moroccan, played for several French clubs (Toulouse, Ajaccio, Dijon, Grenoble) and was an international with the Atlas Lions.

During a particularly brilliant season, he won this year with Wydad Casablanca, one of the most capped Moroccan clubs, the titles of African champion and Moroccan champion.

He took over the management of Wydad Casablanca in August 2021 and announced his official departure at the beginning of this month.