ATLANTA — Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi has told his players they need to believe they can become the first African winners of the World Cup.
The semifinalists from Qatar four years ago booked their place in the round of 32 with a 4-2 win over Haiti in Atlanta on Wednesday.
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And ahead of the knockouts, Ouahbi said the team have the “ingredients” to go further than they did in 2022.
“We are part of a new momentum where we actually need to believe in that title [of potential world champions],” said Ouahbi.
“How do we reach this objective? How do we reach that target? We need to go all in, we need to respect all our opponents.
“We need to be 100% committed. I believe a lot in my work. We have all the ingredients that we need to become the best nation.”
After finishing second in Group C behind Brazil, Morocco face a last-32 matchup against Netherlands, Japan or Sweden in Monterrey on June 29.
Netherlands, in particular, looked scintillating in their 5-1 demolition of Sweden, but Ouahbi said Morocco will fear no one.
“I have no preference whatsoever,” he said.
“Life is life and we’ll see who we’re going to play again. We’ll need to be ready. This is a World Cup.
“We came here for a reason and we have a lot of ambition and we can play against anyone. I’ve watched their games. We need to prepare and we’ll need to analyze. We’ll play that game with confidence.”
