Walid Regragui

Walid Regragui
Regragui with Morocco in 2023
Personal information
Full name Walid Regragui[1]
Date of birth (1975-09-23) 23 September 1975 (age 49)[2]
Place of birth Corbeil-Essonnes, France
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Morocco (head coach)
Youth career
Corbeil-Essonnes
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Racing Paris 17 (3)
1999–2001 Toulouse 37 (3)
2001–2004 Ajaccio 72 (3)
2004–2006 Racing Santander 25 (0)
2007 Dijon 10 (0)
2007–2009 Grenoble 39 (0)
2009 Moghreb Tétouan
2010-2012 FC Fleury 91
International career
2001–2009 Morocco[3] 44 (0)
Managerial career
2014–2020 FUS
2020 Al-Duhail
2021–2022 Wydad AC
2022– Morocco
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Morocco
Africa Cup of Nations
Runner-up 2004 Tunisia
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Walid Regragui (Arabic: وليد الركراكي; born 23 September 1975), sometimes known as Hoalid or Oualid Regragui, is a Moroccan professional football manager and former player who played as a right-back. He is the head coach of the Morocco national team. He made history when he led the team to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2022, the first African nation to do so.[4]

Playing career

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Born in Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne,[5] France, Regragui was a full international for Morocco. Clubs he played for include Toulouse, AC Ajaccio, Grenoble and Racing Santander. In the summer of 2009, he moved from Grenoble to Moroccan club Moghreb Tétouan.[6]

Managerial career

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Morocco

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After retiring as a player, Regragui started his football coaching career as the assistant coach of Morocco's national team in September 2012.[citation needed]

FUS

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On 8 May 2014, he landed a head coaching job with Fath Union Sport for the 2014–15 season.[7] Following his league performances and Moroccan Throne Cup victory in 2014, he was named Mars d'Or Coach of the Year in March 2015.[8][9]

On 22 January 2020, he left the club by mutual consent.[10]

Wydad AC

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On 10 August 2021, Regragui was appointed as the head coach of Botola side Wydad AC.[11] The team went on to win the 2021–22 Botola in his first season[12] On 30 May 2022, he led Wydad AC to win its third CAF Champions League title, after beating defending champions Al Ahly in the final.[13] He became only the second Moroccan manager to win the African Champions League, after Hussein Ammouta with Wydad in 2017.[14] In December 2022, Regragui was nominated for the 2022 IFFHS World's Best Club Coach for his performance in the year in review with Wydad before becoming head coach of the Moroccan national team.[15] He was subsequently adjudged the third best behind Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola.[16]

Return to Morocco

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On 31 August 2022, Regragui was appointed as the new head coach for the Morocco national team after the dismissal of former head coach Vahid Halilhodžić.[17][18] Critics were unhappy with Regragui's appointment and derisively nicknamed him "avocado head".[19] On 21 September 2022, Regragui coached his first friendly game, which ended in a 1–0 victory against Madagascar.[20]

In the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he led Morocco to the knockout stage for the first time since 1986,[21] and to the quarter finals after beating Spain on penalties in the round of 16,[22] making Morocco the fourth African nation and the first Arab nation to qualify for this stage in a World Cup competition.[23][19] Regragui himself is the first African manager, and first Arab manager to reach this stage. Morocco would later beat favourite[24][25] Portugal 1–0 and move on to the semi-finals,[26] not only another first for Morocco, but also making them the first African team, and first Arab team to qualify for the semi-finals.[27][28] However, they lost to France in the semi-final 2–0 on 14 December.[29] Afterward, they finished in fourth place with a 2–1 loss against Croatia.[30] After the World Cup concluded, Regragui was nominated for the 2022 IFFHS World's Best National Coach award.[31] He placed third behind World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni and runner-up Didier Deschamps.[32][33]

Managerial statistics

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As of match played 18 November 2024[34]
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
FUS 1 June 2014 22 January 2020 234 95 84 55 040.60
Al-Duhail 22 January 2020 3 October 2020 20 13 1 6 065.00
Wydad AC 10 August 2021 29 July 2022 48 31 9 8 064.58
Morocco 31 August 2022 Present 32 20 8 4 062.50
Total 334 159 102 73 047.60

Honours

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Player

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Ajaccio

Morocco

Individual

  • Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2004[37]

Manager

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FUS

Al-Duhail

Wydad AC

Morocco

Individual

Order

  • Officer of the Order of National Merit (Morocco): 2004
  • Commander of the Order of National Merit (Morocco): 2016
  • Commander of the Order of the Throne: 2022

References

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  1. ^ "Squad List: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022: Morocco (MAR)" (PDF). FIFA. 9 December 2022. p. 19. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Walid Regragui". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Morocco – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  4. ^ "Morocco beat Portugal to make World Cup history". BBC Sport. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Walid Regragui". L'Équipe (in French). Paris. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  6. ^ Excitement building in Morocco. FIFA. 27 August 2009.
  7. ^ FUS Rabat sign new coach Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Magharebia. 9 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Et les gagnants sont Badr Hari, Walid Regragui, Mehdi Benatia et Adam Lamhamdi". Le Matin (in French). 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ a b "Mars d'Or 2014: les meilleurs sportifs du Maroc récompensés". Africa Top Sports (in French). 31 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  10. ^ "COMMUNIQUE DU FATH UNION SPORT" (in French). 22 January 2020.
  11. ^ "الركراكي يوقع عقود انضمامه للوداد الرياضي كمدرب للفريق الأوّل" [Regragui signs his contracts with Wydad as coach of the first team.]. elbotola.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e Walid Regragui Football Database
  13. ^ "El Moutaraji double delivers third TotalEnergies CAF Champions League title to Wydad". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  14. ^ "الركراكي ثاني مدرب مغربي يتوج بلقب دوري أبطال أفريقيا". elbotola.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  15. ^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST CLUB COACH 2022 - TOP 15". IFFHS. 24 December 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  16. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - MEN'S WORLD BEST CLUB COACH". IFFHS. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Walid Regragui confirmed as new Atlas Lions coach". HESPRESS English – Morocco News. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Morocco appoint Walid Regragui as head coach". ESPN. 1 September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  19. ^ a b Amir, Shady (7 December 2022). "Mr Avocado Head has Morocco daring to dream". Reuters. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  20. ^ "الركراكي يحقق أول فوز مع منتخب المغرب". Hespress – هسبريس جريدة إلكترونية مغربية (in Arabic). 21 September 2022. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Morocco cruise past Canada to make World Cup last 16 for first time since 1986". The National News. 1 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Morocco beat Spain in penalties to reach Quarter finals". Africa News. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  23. ^ "World Cup 2022: Morocco heads to quarter finals, eliminating Spain on penalties". Middle East Eye. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Morocco vs Portugal - Betting Odds". Oddschecker. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  25. ^ Khalil, Shaimaa (11 December 2022). "World Cup 2022: 'We witnessed history as Morocco won'". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Morocco 1–0 Portugal". FIFA. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  27. ^ Byrne, Cal; Arun, Shubhankar; Child, David; Geiger, Dorian (10 December 2022). "Morocco vs Portugal 1-0: World Cup 2022 – as it happened". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  28. ^ Quinn, Andrew (10 December 2022). "'Continental history': How the world reacted to Morocco's victory over Portugal – and Ronaldo's tears". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  29. ^ "France 2–0 Morocco". FIFA. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  30. ^ "Croatia 2–1 Morocco". FIFA. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  31. ^ Rahhou, Jihane. "Morocco's Walid Regragui Nominated for 2022 Best Coach Award". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  32. ^ "IFFHS Awards 2022: Morocco's Regragui World 3rd Best National Coach | MapNews". www.mapnews.ma. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  33. ^ "IFFHS AWARDS 2022 - MEN'S WORLD BEST NATIONAL COACH". IFFHS. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  34. ^ "نهاية مشوار المدرب وليد الركراكي مع الدحيل". استاد الدوحة (in Arabic). 30 September 2020.
  35. ^ "AC Ajaccio".
  36. ^ "African Nations Cup 2004". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  37. ^ "AFCON 2004: CAF Team of the Tournament". www1.rfi.fr. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  38. ^ "Morocco select Regragui to lead them into a new sporting era". Atalayar. September 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  39. ^ https://m.goalzz.com/main.aspx?c=23501&stage=7 [bare URL]
  40. ^ "World Cup 2022". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  41. ^ "Mars d'Or: Benatia, Regragui et Hari meilleurs, footballeur, entraîneur et sportif 2014". Radio Mars. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  42. ^ "الركراكي أفضل مدرب مغربي لسنة 2015".
  43. ^ "الركراكي أفضل مدرب مغربي لسنة 2015".
  44. ^ "الركراكي أفضل مدرب مغربي لسنة 2015". www.elbotola.com.
  45. ^ Kitibri, A. (9 July 2022). "Wydad : Regragui désigné 'Meilleur coach du Botola" [Wydad: Regragui named 'Best' coach of Botola]. L'Opinion Maroc (in French). Retrieved 14 March 2023.
  46. ^ "Walid Regragui crowned best international Arab coach". HESPRESS English - Morocco News. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  47. ^ Zouiten, Sara. "Morocco's Walid Regragui Named Best Arab, International Coach". moroccoworldnews. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  48. ^ "Africa d'Or 2023: Walid Regragui élu Entraîneur Africain de la Saison !". August 2023.
  49. ^ "Entraîneur africain de l'année : La belle pensée de Regragui pour Cissé après son sacre". 11 December 2023.
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