There has been controversy after almost every game involving Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with match officials coming under fire from fans.
Zambia complained about the officiating in the match they lost 3-0. Tanzania also felt cheated in a 1-0 defeat where they claimed to have been denied a penalty in the dying minutes of the round of 16, while Cameroonians are fuming with anger after being eliminated by Morocco in a match that ended 2-0. Fans, journalists, and officials have complained about how the Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida and his assistant officiated the match, with the most controversial decision being a foul by Masina on Mbeumo in the penalty box, which was ignored.
However, Morocco’s head coach, Walid Regragui, has dismissed claims that his team is being favored.
“Many want to believe or make people believe that we have advantages with the officiating. Me, I’ve seen more penalties that could have been called for us. For me, the referees, I never talk about the officiating,” he said after the match.
Walid also stated that his team has performed better than all their opponents in the ongoing AFCON and that it’s unfair for people to claim they are being favored.
“We were in the Ivory Coast; there was a penalty that wasn’t called for us against South Africa. I was suspended for no reason in the Ivory Coast. The statistics always show us better than the others. We create many more opportunities than the opponent. There hasn’t been a goal taken away from Cameroon or any other team. When you want to kill your dog, you say it has rabies. We’re the team to beat, so naturally, they’re going to try to find every good reason to say that Morocco is favored.”
Fans are our only advantage—Regragui.
According to Regragui, the only advantage his team has is to play in front of thousands of their fans.
“The only advantage Morocco has in this AFCON is playing in front of sixty-five thousand spectators. The rest, we’ll talk about on the field. Today, Cameroon played the match they needed to play. I think they came up against a better team. I don’t think there’s a player or coach or anyone who’s going to talk about the officiating because, well, I think today there were a lot of duels. It’s Africa, but today, I think we deserve our victory. Against Tanzania, we deserved our victory.
“Against Zambia, we deserved our victory. Also Against Mali, we would have deserved to win. And against Comoros, we deserve our victory. After that, uh, trying to play on that field, I think it’s not fair play on the part of the people who want to see us fall. The best team will win this AFCON, God willing.”
Morocco has so far recorded four victories in five matches, having drawn only once, 1-1 against Mali in the group stage, in which they conceded their only goal so far through a penalty.
They will face the winner of today’s match between Nigeria and Algeria in the semifinals as they continue to chase their first AFCON title since 1976.
READ ALSO: Senegal and Morocco Advance to AFCON 2025 Semifinals
