Experienced players Hakim Ziyech (60 caps, 23 goals) and Youssef En-Nesyri (68 caps, 18 goals) both expressed their dissatisfaction after being substituted during Friday’s match against Zambia (2-1) in the 3rd round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The Moroccan coach, Walid Regragui, responded in the post-match press conference.
With the three points secured, everyone happy? Far from it! While the Atlas Lions managed to secure a narrow victory against Zambia at the Stade Adrar d’Agadir on Friday, tensions emerged. Hakim Ziyech, who opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 6th minute, was substituted in the 64th minute (3 minutes before Eliesse ben Seghir’s second goal) to make way for Soufiane Rahimi.
And evidently, Ziyech was not pleased with the decision. With a tense expression, the recent Turkish champion with Galatasaray didn’t hesitate to gesture towards the bench.
While some of his teammates tried to console him, the Atlas Lion, who took his time leaving the field, clearly struggled with his premature substitution, even tossing his boots onto the bench. But he wasn’t alone… His teammate Youssef En-Nesyri also left the field in the 64th minute, making way for Ayoub El Kaabi. Less demonstrative than Ziyech when leaving the field but equally vexed by the situation, the Sevilla forward completely lost his composure upon sitting on the bench, notably kicking a water bottle in frustration.
“It’s good that the players are upset to be substituted.”
These two scenes, common in football but always unsettling, naturally caught the interest of journalists at the post-match press conference, who questioned Walid Regragui about the incidents. “Hakim trained this week, he was slightly injured. That’s why I didn’t want to take any risks,” the coach explained first, attempting to defuse the situation.
“It’s good that the players are upset to be substituted. Hakim is a competitor. I make the decisions, I want to protect them. I have players on the bench who can do the job too.
There won’t be any issues with Hakim because he knows what I want, and the same goes for Youssef. I can tell you that in Qatar, Boufal was substituted and he hit the post, etc… You didn’t say anything, did you? Hakim is an important player in our team. If you want me to remove them from the squad? No, I won’t remove them.” The Moroccan coach thus chose to side with his players and downplay the incident. The next meeting for the Atlas Lions is next Tuesday against Congo, still at the Stade Adrar d’Agadir.
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