World Cup 2022: divorce in sight between Morocco and Vahid Halilhodzic

Vahid Halilhodzic, coach of Morocco, during a friendly match against the United States in Cincinnati, June 1, 2022. AP - Jeff Dean

Text by: Farid Achache Follow

2 mins

Vahid Halilhodzic, Morocco coach since August 2019, should not make the trip to the World Cup in Qatar.

The Moroccan Federation and the Franco-Bosnian are said to be negotiating the departure of the former Ivory Coast, Algeria and Japan coach who is in conflict with Chelsea player Hakim Ziyech.

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Decidedly, the curse continues between Vahid Halilhodzic and the World Cup.

After being ousted by

just before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and by

before the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the Morocco coach is said to be in discussion with the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, to negotiate his departure.

According to the sports daily

, the tense situation between the Franco-Bosnian, at the head of the Atlas Lions since August 2019, and Hakim Ziyech (40 caps, 17 goals) would be the main cause of this decision. 

Thrown in the trash

After his eviction from Côte d'Ivoire, Vahid Halilhodzic no longer intended to train an African team, he who had qualified the Ivorians with a very good run in the playoffs (5 wins and a draw).

After leaving Japan in April 2018, he said he felt "

 ".

In the dispute between him and Morocco, Fouzi Lekjaa has indeed promised Moroccan supporters the return of attacking midfielder Hakim Ziyech to the selection, while the person concerned refuses to appear there as long as "coach Vahid" will be the controls.

The former coach of the Atlas Lions, the French Hervé Renard, had already been very annoyed by the behavior of Hakim Ziyech.

Things were finally back to normal after an interview with Hervé Renard, Fouzi Lekjaa and the player.

Obviously, with Vahid Halilhodzic, there was no attempt at mediation.

Walid Regragui in ambush

The Federation would therefore have arbitrated in favor of the player, dismissing the 70-year-old coach.

Walid Regragui - current coach of WAC Casablanca - would hold the rope to recover the post and lead his team to the World Cup in Qatar at the end of the year.

Regragui had a great season with a double Championship - African Champions League.

Apart from

in 2014, where "coach Vahid" took the Fennecs to a historic round of 16, his history with the World Cup looks more and more like a nightmare.  

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