Moroccan Football Chief: I Want a Final Against Yamal to See if His Choice Was Right

Fouzi Lekjaa, President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), has expressed his desire for a 2026 World Cup final featuring his national team against Spain. This wish stems from young star Lamine Yamal's decision two years ago to represent the European champions instead of the African powerhouse.

“Now I expect to meet Spain in a World Cup final to see if Yamal truly made the right choice or not,” Lekjaa stated in an interview with Aljazeera360. He also explained the recent trend of Moroccan-born players choosing to represent the “Atlas Lions” as follows: “We are a country that offers the opportunity to regularly play in African tournaments and participate in World Cups. So, this international project attracts players.”

The head of Moroccan football also firmly declared that the country will no longer bid to host African club and national level tournaments, following controversies surrounding the Africa Cup of Nations final and Morocco's awarded victory over Senegal. Furthermore, Morocco is preparing to co-host the 2030 World Cup. “We will no longer bid to host any African tournaments. If other countries want to organize them, they are free to do so,” Lekjaa asserted.

He also assured that he had no influence over the awarding of the African title earlier this year. “When the referee awarded the penalty in the final, the Senegalese players left the field. Everyone saw what happened. Honestly, the Moroccan public reacted very calmly. If we wanted to cheat, the match would have ended in the 15th minute, not the 90th. If I truly had influence, we wouldn't have won only two African titles: the one in 1976 and the current one. Even our biggest successes, like the World Cup semi-final and the U20 World Cup title, were in tournaments organized by FIFA, not CAF. How could that be influence? What privileges has CAF given us? The only thing they've given us is the right to organize tournaments that no one else wanted. We did it to help CAF,” the Moroccan official stated.

Lekjaa also used the opportunity to hint that Morocco narrowly missed out on hosting the 2010 World Cup under questionable circumstances. “We were very close to organizing a World Cup even then, but in the final moments before the decision, something controversial happened during the announcement process. Ultimately, those involved faced the consequences, but I won't go into details,” he added.