Losing to France for the second consecutive World Cup would have broken most teams. Morocco’s coach Mohamed Ouahbi left Gillette Stadium in Boston on Thursday night not broken but burning with resolve.Second-half goals from Kylian Mbappé in the 60th minute and Ousmane Dembélé six minutes later sealed a 2-0 win for France, an identical scoreline to the 2022 World Cup semifinal in Qatar. Same opponent. Same result. Same pain.

But Ouahbi, who guided Morocco’s Under-20 side to the Under-20 World Cup title in 2025 before stepping up to the senior role, was in no mood to simply accept defeat and move on. With Morocco co-hosting the 2030 World Cup alongside Portugal and Spain, the coach made his intentions crystal clear.”It is clear today that France was stronger,” Ouahbi said. “But we can progress and improve further and maybe eliminate them in four years’ time.”The message was simple and direct. This is not over.Ouahbi was generous in his praise of France, acknowledging their quality across every area of the pitch. “France are very good with the ball, they caused us so many problems,” he said. “They have been in the last two finals, they have so much talent, talent willing to run and make an effort and that makes a difference.

They have all the qualities to win the World Cup.”But the focus quickly shifted to Morocco’s future. Ouahbi pointed to the youth in his squad, the strength of the Moroccan federation and the backing of the King as reasons for genuine optimism. “We have a lot of young players, a great pool of talent,” he said. “Our young players will grow and we have a team that can win and achieve titles in the future.”Morocco reached the quarterfinals in back-to-back World Cups, the first African nation ever to do so. They have now been eliminated by France in both. In 2030, on home soil, they intend to change that story entirely.