Morocco head coach Mohamed Ouahbi questioned the build-up to Kylian Mbappé’s crucial goal after his team’s 2-0 FIFA World Cup quarter-final defeat to France, insisting there was “definitely a handball” while expressing confusion as to why the incident was not reviewed by VAR.Controversy arose during the sequence that led to Mbappé’s goal, with many Moroccan players stopping the game believing that France had handled the ball in the build-up.Speaking after Morocco’s World Cup campaign, Ouahbi admitted he was unsure if the incident should have resulted in a free-kick but maintained the handball itself was clear.“Some players stopped because there was a handball. And there was a handball!” Ouahbi told reporters. “I don’t know if it should be called or not; I have no idea… in the end, it was an individual effort from Kylian Mbappé that led to the goal.
Why didn’t VAR intervene?
Despite Morocco’s protests, refereeing analyst Juan Guzmán explained that the officials were right not to allow the goal.According to Guzmán, the handball is incidental and has no direct or immediate effect on the goal. More importantly, possession changed hands before Mbappé’s decisive contribution, meaning that the phase of the attack that produced the goal was considered separate from the previous incident.Under the Laws of the Game, VAR only intervenes in attacking handball situations when the offense directly leads to a goal or creates an immediate goal-scoring opportunity. Since those conditions were not met, the goal was allowed to stand.
France deserved the victory, admitted Ouahbi
While disappointed by the controversial moment, Ouahbi acknowledged that France was the better team as the game progressed.“We are disappointed but the first half was very difficult,” he said. “The French are very good on the ball. They have a lot of possession, they cause a lot of problems on the sides of their players, and also in the center.”The Morocco coach admitted that his team struggled to launch effective counter-attacks whenever they regained possession.“When we had the ball, our transitions weren’t very good, so we had to run a little bit, and they were in a comfortable place,” he added.Ouahbi also admitted that France created more clear chances while Morocco lacked innovation and creativity.“We have to recognize that they are a good team. They have very good players and have better opportunities to score goals. We lack ideas and innovation,” he said.Despite yet another World Cup exit at the hands of France – who also eliminated Morocco in the 2022 semi-finals – Ouahbi believes the Atlas Lions are continuing to close the gap with the world’s elite.“Today, France is stronger, but we were able to compete and improve, and maybe to eliminate them four years down the line,” he said.He ended with a message of pride and realism for his players. “I told my players to keep their heads up because we gave everything… but we have to assess the situation. We can’t say we are happy and proud of our performance.