Morocco have been the story of this year’s World Cup as they became the first African nation to reach the semi-final of the world’s greatest footballing tournament.
Unfortunately, they lost 2-0 to France in Wednesday’s semi-final, meaning they will now face Croatia in the third place play-off match on Saturday, and while finishing 3rd at a World Cup would mean everything to the Moroccan people, the country’s manager Walid Regragui has said some strong words ahead of the game.
France are through to a consecutive World Cup final! 🇫🇷
It's heartbreak for Morocco, the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, but the might of France proved to be too much #ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/TCX791sbgb
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 14, 2022
“I guess it is the worst game that we have to play,” admitted the 47-year old.
“Obviously, we would have liked things to be different. We would like to have been in the actual final but there is a third place to play for. We want to be on the podium.
“We want to be as positive as possible for our supporters. Yes, finishing third would be great for our image, we would be on the podium. But you know what? Even if we win the game tomorrow, we won’t have got to the final and we won’t have won the World Cup.”
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The feeling of exiting the competition at the last four stage may have left Regragui with a bitter taste in his mouth, but Saturday’s match promises to be a very entertaining one between two teams who have caught the eyes of football fans from every corner of the globe during this World Cup.