Morocco coach Walid Regragui said African nations have shown they are not “sub par” at the World Cup - and tipped one to go on to lift the trophy.
Rugraagui’s side need a point from Thursday's encounter against Canada to make it through to the knockout stage and join fellow African nation Senegal.
For the first time in World Cup history, all five African nations at the tournament are led by African coaches, with Rugraguai claiming they have shown they are equal to the very best countries from Europe and South America,
“Obviously, Morocco is my priority,” said Rugragui. “But we’re also African, as Senegal are, as Ghana are, as Cameroon and Tunisia are, so we hope to fly the flag of African football high. Often, we’ve been described as being ‘sub-par’, that somehow African football wasn’t as good as elsewhere.
“But at this World Cup, I think we are showing we can give any other team a run for their money, whether we are talking about European or South American teams.
“I hope in the future, that we will be seeing this from more African teams and why not an African nation winning the World Cup?
“Obviously because of our origins, and this being the first World Cup being held in the Middle East and the Arab world, there are people supporting us, and we hope that we can make those supporters happy as well. If they see us as flag bearers for the Arab world and we hope we can qualify for them too.”
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Marc Carrena - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)Although Morocco - who reached the knockout stage once before in 1986 - only need a point to do so again, Regragui said they cannot play for a draw, after Iran and Ecuador faced the same scenario and both ended up going out.
“It would be an error to go into the game only thinking a draw is fine for us,” said Rugragui. “We’re playing a team looking for their first points of the World Cup, one with nothing to lose.
“We can’t afford to have an eye on the Belgium and Croatia match, in terms of deciding our own fate. We have to give everything and ensure we don’t have any regrets.”
