Hoalid Regragui (born 23 September 1975), known as Walid Regragui ( ar, وليد الركراكي, Walīd ar-Ragrāgī), is a Moroccan professional football manager and former player who played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is the head coach of the Morocco national team. He managed the team to fourth place at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

, the first African and Arab nation to make the semi-finals.

Playing career

Born in

Corbeil-Essonnes Corbeil-Essonnes () on the River Seine is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Although neighboring Évry is the official seat of the Arrondissement of Évry, the sub-prefecture build ...

, Essonne, France, Regragui was a full international for Morocco. Clubs he played for include

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. The city is on t ...

AC Ajaccio Athletic Club Ajaccio ( co, Athletic Club Aiacciu), commonly referred to as AC Ajaccio, ''ACA'' or simply Ajaccio, is a French association football club based in the city of Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. The club was founded in 1910 and ...

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

and Racing Santander. In the summer of 2009, he moved from Grenoble to Moroccan club Moghreb Tétouan.

Managerial career

Morocco

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

FUS

On 8 May 2014, he landed a head coaching job with Fath Union Sport for the 2014–15 season. On 22 January 2020, he left the club by mutual consent.

Wydad AC

On 10 August 2021, Regragui was appointed as the head coach of Botola side Wydad AC. On 30 May 2022, he led Wydad AC to win its third CAF Champions League title, after beating defending champions

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. He became only the second Moroccan manager to win the

African Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

, after Hussein Ammouta with Wydad in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Return to Morocco

On 31 August 2022, Regragui was appointed as the new head coach for the

Morocco national football team The Morocco national football team,french: Équipe du Maroc de football nicknamed "the Atlas Lions", represents Morocco in men's international football competitions. It is controlled by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, also known as FRMF ...

after the dismissal of former head coach Vahid Halilhodžić. Critics were unhappy with Regragui's appointment and derisively nicknamed him "avocado head". On 21 September 2022, Regragui coached his first friendly game, which ended in a 1–0 victory against

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. In the

, he led Morocco to the

knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

for the first time since 1986, and to the quarter finals after beating

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

on penalties in the round of 16, making Morocco the fourth African nation and the first Arab nation to qualify for this stage in a World Cup competition. Regragui himself is the first African manager, and first Arab manager to reach this stage. Morocco would later beat favourite

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

1–0 and move on to the semi-finals, not only another first for Morocco, but also making them the first African team, and first Arab team to qualify for the semi-finals which shocked the whole world. However, they lost to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in the semi-final 2–0 on 14 December. Afterward, they finished in fourth place with a 2–1 loss against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. After his astonishing performance in the

, Regragui was nominated for the 2022 FIFA World Coach of the Year Award.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Ajaccio * Division 2: 2001–02 Morocco *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Manager

FUS * Botola: 2015–16 * Moroccan Throne Cup: 2013–14 Al-Duhail * Qatar Stars League: 2019–20 Wydad AC * Botola: 2021–22 * CAF Champions League: 2021–22 Morocco *Fourth Place in FIFA World Cup 2022 Individual *Best Coach in Botola: 2015–16, 2021–22

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Regragui, Walid 1975 births Living people People from Corbeil-Essonnes Footballers from Essonne French footballers Moroccan footballers Association football defenders AS Corbeil-Essonnes (football) players Racing Club de France Football players Toulouse FC players AC Ajaccio players Racing de Santander players Dijon FCO players Grenoble Foot 38 players Moghreb Tétouan players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Morocco international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players French football managers Moroccan football managers Wydad AC managers Al-Duhail SC managers Morocco national football team managers Botola managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers French expatriate footballers Moroccan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain French sportspeople of Moroccan descent