Walid Regragui under fire in Morocco before Zambia group game | OneFootball

Walid Regragui faces mounting criticism in Morocco as Zambia await on Monday in the third group match. L'Équipe reports that only winning the CAN would redeem him at home.

Since the tournament began, press conferences have brought pointed queries. He has been pressed on starting then withdrawing Soufiane Rahimi, and even asked if he had told players not to shoot.

After the failed CAN in Côte d'Ivoire, a last 16 loss to South Africa, 0-2, he has not won back favour despite 19 straight wins, a world record halted on Friday by Mali, 1-1.

Critics call the wins bland and the choices illogical. The 3-2 Arab Cup win over Jordan on 18 December deepened the backlash. Many fans look to Tarik Sektioui, who led that team, and won the CHAN in 2024, then took Olympic bronze the same year.

Online, some demand 'an Émerse Faé', a mid-CAN bench change. Yet Regragui's CV includes league titles with FUS Rabat in 2016 and Al-Duhail in 2020, the 2022 CAF Champions League and league with Wydad Casablanca, then World Cup fourth place.

The pressure is stark. Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa has set a single standard, victory. Jamal Sellami has floated Sektioui as a successor, but he was speaking about after the World Cup.

Achraf Hakimi backed his coach and denounced whistles, saying the team has a new mindset since finishing fourth. Regragui is choosing to absorb the flak to protect his players for the biggest test of their careers, and his.

Source: L'Équipe