Walid Ouahbi Reflects on Controversial Moment in Morocco's Game Against France

Walid Ouahbi walked away from an intense night of football convinced the game had turned on a single decision – and on a single touch of the ball.

The Morocco coach took aim at referee Facundo Tello for allowing France’s opening goal to stand, insisting Adrien Rabiot had handled in the build-up before Kylian Mbappé pounced and lashed the ball into the Moroccan net.

For Ouahbi, that phase changed everything.

“The goal came from a bit of a… shared ball, some people stopped because they saw a handball,” he told beIN Sports, still replaying the moment in his mind. “It was a handball, I don’t know if it should have been called or not, I don’t know.”

Some of his players hesitated, expecting the whistle. It never came. France played on, Mbappé punished the pause, and Morocco were chasing from that point on.

Yet Ouahbi refused to let the controversy dominate his verdict. He turned quickly to the level of the opposition and the harsh reality of facing a side of France’s depth and precision.

“We have to admit that we played against a very good team,” the 49-year-old said. “We suffered a lot in the first half, and Bounou made a great save on the penalty.”

Morocco bent but did not break. Yassine Bounou’s stop from the spot kept them alive, a defiant moment in a first half where they struggled to breathe, let alone build.

Ouahbi saw a different team after the break. Lines tighter. Nerves calmer. The ball finally sticking to red shirts.

“In the second half, we defended better and, above all, we were more composed with the ball. We were much better,” he explained. “In the first half, it seemed like some players were catching their breath. We saw that these same players started the second half well.”

The improvement was clear. Morocco pushed higher, passed with more authority and, for spells, dragged France into a fight on their terms. But the effort came at a cost. Legs faded. Spaces opened. The final minutes became a test of pure resistance.

“It was tough at the end,” Ouahbi admitted. The disappointment in his voice sat alongside something else: a refusal to let this be a ceiling.

“I believe we must continue to believe, to work. We must also continue to work on the basics, ensuring that when there are injuries, players who are less fresh, we can have a larger pool of players. We will continue, we will not stop here. We are very disappointed, we wanted more, but we have to accept it.”

The message was blunt. The regret over the handball will linger, but the real response, in Ouahbi’s eyes, will come not from the referee’s whistle – from the squad he is determined to deepen for the battles still to come.