The pressure is maximum. Two days before the start of the 2025 African Cup of Nations, which will be played in Morocco from December 21 to January 18, all eyes are on the Atlas Lions and their coach, Walid Regragui. The latter knows it: if he wishes to keep his position, he will not be able to afford a poor performance similar to that of CAN 2024, which the Moroccans left in the round of 16 after a setback against South Africa (0-2).
“Winning the CAN is not a choice” but an “obvious” obligation, Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), reminded AFP. And for good reason: Morocco has invested nearly 1.8 billion euros to renovate its infrastructure and host the continental competition with the hope of offering the best edition in history.
A possibility only possible if the host country goes to the end, which it has not managed to do since 1976, an anomaly given the Moroccan breeding ground… and the results of its other national teams. In 2025, Morocco won the U20 World Cup, the U17 CAN, the CHAN (African Nations Championship) and now the Arab Cup.
Tarik Sektioui, “the best Moroccan coach in the world”?
The last two trophies bear the seal of Tarik Sektioui, the coach of the A’ team (formerly the reserve team). Appointed in 2024, the 48-year-old technician has already built a magnificent track record with the antechamber of the main selection. At the head of the Olympic team, he participated in the great performance of the Cubs at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, concluded with a historic bronze medal.
Less than four months after being crowned during the CHAN, the continental competition reserved for players playing in Africa, Sektioui brought Morocco the second Arab Cup in its history this Thursday, after a crazy final against Jordan (2-3 AD).
Faced with such success, many actors and followers of local football consider that the native of Fez will have to succeed Regragui, in office since 2022, if the pennant team misses out on its CAN. This is particularly the case of Jamal Sellami, the Moroccan coach of Jordan. “For me personally, Tarik Sektioui is the future coach of the Atlas Lions,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday, on the eve of the final.
A bias also taken by certain players, like Tarik Tissoudali, member of the Moroccan contingent crowned this Thursday in Qatar. In the evening, the 32-year-old striker published a photo in his Instagram story in which he appears alongside his trainer, adorned with an emoji representing a crown. “The best Moroccan coach in the world,” he wrote in the caption before deleting it a few hours after publication. So, real acclaim or simple frustration on the part of the player, not included in the list for CAN 2025?
“If we don’t win CAN 2025, I will leave”
In any case, in public opinion, the figure of Walid Regragui is increasingly divisive. Adored by the Moroccan people after leading the national team to the final four of the 2022 World Cup, a historic result for an African country, the latter is becoming increasingly tense with its vague and sometimes aggressive communication. Given the myriad of excellent results obtained by the side selections, it is almost certain that the former Grenoble defender will not survive another disappointment this winter.
Under contract until 2026, he himself took the lead during an appearance on the Spanish show El Chiringuito last April. “I have a contract until the 2026 World Cup, but if we do not win the 2025 CAN, this contract will end and I will leave (…) I know this job. If you don’t win, you know what you have to do. It’s logical,” he assured.
