World Cup: Morocco coach decries missed handball incident against France as Atlas Lions suffer elimination
By Luke Oluoch, July 10, 2026Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouhabi was left to rue an ‘unchecked’ handball incident moments before Kylian Mbappé’s opening goal as the Atlas Lions were eliminated from the 2026 World Cup following a 2-0 quarterfinal defeat to France in Boston on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
In his post-match press conference, the coach decried the build-up to Mbappé’s opener, asserting that the goal might have been disallowed had the apparent handball been reviewed.
Players stopped
“The goal comes from an action early on, and some people stop because they see a hand. There is a hand. I don’t know if it should be called or not; I have no idea. Ultimately, it was an individual effort from Kylian Mbappé that led to the goal. We wanted more, but we have to accept it,” he stated.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, especially when facing one of the tournament favourites without star striker Ismael Saibari, Ouhabi had maintained a confident tone ahead of the match, stating that his charges were more than capable of eliminating the 2018 world champions.
His remarks, however, did not age well as they suffered a 2-0 defeat, mirroring the heartbreak of their 2022 semifinal matchup in Qatar four years ago. Overall, the gaffer admitted that they had come up against a far stronger opposition.
“We have to acknowledge that they are a good side. They could have scored earlier than they did, but we wanted to hold on a little longer and see how they would react,” Ouahbi added.
Strong comeback
Moving forward, Ouahbi vowed that his side would use Thursday’s World Cup quarterfinal exit as motivation for the future, declaring that the Atlas Lions would aim to knock out Les Bleus the next time the two titans clash on football’s biggest stage.
He also stated that it has been a difficult year for the team after the AFCON 2025 heartbreak.
“We have to keep believing. We aren’t going to stop here. We need to work on the fundamentals and ensure that when we have injuries, we have a deeper pool of players to draw from. We have a talented team of young players, and we want to get better.
This tournament will help us improve. These players have had an extraordinary year with AFCON in the middle, so it has not been easy. We will come back in September, pick ourselves up, and continue from there,” he insisted.