Morocco have already made World Cup history, as no African team had ever reached the semi-finals before Walid Regragui‘s side, who have been punching above their weight in the 2022 World Cup.
They reached the semi-finals of the competition after beating Portugal 1-0 on Saturday. There, they will take on reigning champions France, who defeated England 2-1 on the same day.
The Morocco party after reaching the World Cup semi-finals
What makes Regragui’s Morocco so good?
In eight matches under Regragui, Morocco have recorded five wins and three draws, having conceded just one goal.
“We are the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup,” Regragui said.
“It’s not a miracle, it’s the result of hard work.
“After Spain, we also managed to beat a great team like Portugal.
“We gave everything, even though we still have some injured players, but those who are playing have fought to the point of exhaustion.
“This group has a great spirit. I told the boys before the game that we had to write history for Africa.”
The only goal Morocco have conceded under Regragui was an own goal scored by West Ham centre-back Nayef Aguerd in the match against Canada in the group stage.
No other player has beaten an impressive Yassine Bono, with the Sevilla goalkeeper becoming the first African shot-stopper to keep three clean sheets in a World Cup.
Meanwhile, Aguerd has stood out in defence, while Paris Saint-Germain full-back Achraf Hakimi is one of Morocco‘s best performers.
No team have more ball clearances (137) and interceptions (52) than Morocco, who are anything but easy to break down.
Following in Simeone’s footsteps
The Moroccan coach has not hidden his admiration for Diego Simeone‘s style of play and overall mentality.
“We are tactically good, with a heart that is very big,” Regragui said, echoing a philosophy that Simeone has often presented.
“We don’t leave spaces and we know that we have technical players who can make the difference in any play. And we have also been lucky.
“With heart, soul, good tactics and a lot of sacrifices we have achieved it.
“I’m also happy for Spain because some people have said it’s a nightmare to lose against Morocco, but they’ve seen that it’s not easy to beat us.”
Opponents have recorded just nine shots on target in total against Morocco in this tournament and their fans are allowed consider that everything is possible from now on.
“We can take on any team in the world,” Bono stressed.
“We produce miracles.”
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