The upcoming match in the fifth round of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers between Morocco’s national football team and Gabon on Friday promises to be competitive, similar to the first leg, the team’s head coach Walid Regragui said in a press conference on Thursday.
“I expect both teams to play freely,” Regragui said. “It will be an open game of offense, just like the first leg, with both teams aiming for victory.”
He congratulated the Gabonese team for having qualified for AFCON 2025, and welcomed them to the tournament, which will take place in Morocco from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.
Regragui highlighted the teams’ strong rivalry with mutual respect. “We are delighted to be in Gabon,and we are aware of the friendship between our two peoples,” he added.
Regragui said Gabon has “always produced talented players” with an “aggressive way of playing,” and Morocco’s team is prepared for an exciting match that should go well.
“The match will be different this time as Gabon is already qualified,” he noted. “This will likely influence the style of play of both teams.”
The coach highlighted the challenges of playing away from home in Africa. “Every away match presents a unique challenge. For us, the goal is to face a different challenge in every game. Playing away in Africa is always difficult, and that’s a good challenge for us,” Regragui said.
Regarding the physical condition of some players, the coach suggested that there are a few concerns about injured players, “but most of the squad is available.” “We will wait for the final training session to see how the players who had travel or injury issues are doing,” he said. “Some players’ physical conditions will determine whether they can play, as we have another match next Monday.”
Regragui also mentioned that the goal is to review the squad without making major changes. “We need to build certainty with each match to progress together,” he said, pointing out that new players who have joined the team since the last AFCON must now adapt to the squad.
The coach reiterated that Morocco’s main objective is to win the match and determine the benchmark for the coming games, indicating that Morocco’s primary goal in the qualifiers is to secure qualification, despite already being qualified as the host nation.
After the press conference, the national team had a training session at the Franceville stadium, which was open to the media for the first 15 minutes.
Morocco, currently leading Group B with 12 points, will face Gabon on Friday at 8:00 p.m., before hosting Lesotho next Monday at Morocco’s Oujda Honor Stadium.
Gabon, which is[WHO IS FOR HUMANS-GABON IS AN INANIMATE TEAM] in second place with 7 points, secured its qualification for the 2025 AFCON before facing Morocco in the fifth round of the qualifiers, thanks to Lesotho’s 1-0 win over the Central African Republic.