Morocco coach Walid Regragui quits just months before World Cup

By Canadian Press on March 5, 2026.

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco coach Walid Regragui has quit the team just months before it competes at the World Cup, he confirmed at a late-night press conference on Thursday.

Regragui’s departure — less than 100 days before the United States, Canada and Mexico host the World Cup from June 11 to July 19 — was widely reported before Fouzi Lekjaa, the president of the country’s soccer federation, accompanied Regragui for the press conference that doubled as a tribute to the departing coach.

“The team needs a fresh face, a different energy, and a new perspective with a new coach,” Regragui said. “I think the team needs a new lease of life before the World Cup, a new vision to continue progressing. My decision to leave is part of this team’s evolution.”

At the 2022 World Cup, Regragui led Morocco to the semifinals — a first for Africa and the Arab world — but he was criticized after the team failed to win the Africa Cup of Nations as the host country after a dramatic 1-0 loss to Senegal in the final in January.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press