Walid Regragui (; born 23 September 1975), sometimes known as Hoalid or Oualid Regragui, is a professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

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

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, the first African nation to do so.

Playing career

Born in Corbeil-Essonnes, Essonne, France, Regragui was a full international for Morocco. Clubs he played for include

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

, AC Ajaccio,

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

Moghreb Tétouan The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

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. Following his league performances and Moroccan Throne Cup victory in 2014, he was named Mars d'Or Coach of the Year in March 2015. 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 Wydad Athletic Club (, ), often known outside Morocco as Wydad Casablanca, is a Moroccan sports club based in Casablanca. Wydad AC is best known for its professional Association football, football team that competes in Botola, the top tier of th ...

. The team went on to win the 2021–22 Botola in his first season. On 30 May 2022, he led Wydad AC to win its third

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title, after beating defending champions Al Ahly in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He became only the second Moroccan manager to win the African Champions League, after Hussein Ammouta with Wydad in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. 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. He was subsequently adjudged the third best behind

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and Pep Guardiola.

Return to Morocco

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. On 21 September 2022, Regragui coached his first friendly game, which ended in a 1–0 victory against

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. In the

, he led Morocco to the knockout stage for the first time since 1986, and to the quarter finals after beating

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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

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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. However, they lost to

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

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. After the World Cup concluded, Regragui was nominated for the 2022 IFFHS World's Best National Coach award. He placed third behind World Cup winning coach Lionel Scaloni and runner-up Didier Deschamps.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Ajaccio *

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: 2001–02 Morocco * Africa Cup of Nations 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 ...

Individual *Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

Manager

FUS * Botola: 2015–16 * Moroccan Throne Cup: 2013–14 Al-Duhail * Qatar Stars League: 2019–20 Wydad AC * Botola: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22 * Moroccan Throne Cup runner-up: 2020–21 Morocco *

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fourth place:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *"Mars d'Or" Moroccan Coach of the Year: 2014 * Botola Best Coach of the Season: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2021–22 *

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Best Arab coach in the world: 2022 *"Africa d'Or" African Coach of the Year: 2023 * CAF Coach of the Year: 2023 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

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Regragui, Walid 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Corbeil-Essonnes Footballers from Essonne French men's footballers Moroccan men's footballers Men's 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 MA Tétouan players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players La Liga players Morocco men's international footballers 2004 African Cup of Nations players 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players French football managers Moroccan football managers Fath Union Sport managers Wydad AC managers Al-Duhail SC managers Morocco national football team managers Botola managers 2022 FIFA World Cup managers 2023 Africa Cup of Nations managers French expatriate men's footballers Moroccan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Spain French sportspeople of Moroccan descent French Muslims French expatriate football managers Moroccan expatriate football managers