Wahbi Initiates Bold Overhaul for Morocco Post World Cup
The 2026 World Cup is over, but Morocco’s reset is only just beginning. Quarter-finalists in North America, the Atlas Lions are heading into a far more ruthless phase: reconstruction.
Head coach Mohamed Wahbi has started to pull apart the squad he trusted on the biggest stage, convinced that the group which carried Morocco to the last eight cannot be the same one that leads the next cycle. The message is clear. Sentiment stops here.
Federation Backs Wahbi – and His Revolution
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has already made its call: Wahbi stays. Despite the 2–0 defeat to France that ended Morocco’s World Cup run in the quarter-finals across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the federation has chosen continuity on the bench and change on the pitch.
With job security comes authority. Wahbi is using it.
According to Moroccan outlet Sport7, the coach has settled on a first wave of casualties as he reshapes the Atlas Lions for the September international window. Six players who were part of the World Cup squad are set to be cut from the next call-up.
The names are not minor.
- Ayoub El Kaabi.
- Sofyan Amrabat.
- Amine Sbai.
- Youssef Belammari.
- Marwan Saadane.
- Goalkeeper Munir Mohamedi.
All are expected to miss out when the new list drops for the upcoming international break.
No One Safe as Bench Comes Under the Microscope
This is not a cosmetic clean-up. Wahbi has identified the bench as a major fault line. During the World Cup, Morocco’s depth never quite matched its ambition. When games tightened and legs tired, the coach looked over his shoulder and too often saw repetition instead of variety.
That will not be allowed to continue.
Sport7 adds that the cull might not stop at six. Other squad players, including Halhal and Amimoni, could also be sacrificed as part of the broader restructuring Wahbi is driving through. Established names are discovering that World Cup participation offers no guarantees in the new order.
The reasoning is simple: Morocco need more tools. More profiles. More ways to change a game from the touchline.
Fresh Blood, New Ideas
Wahbi plans to open the doors wide at the next camp, scheduled for the end of September. A number of new faces are expected to receive their first taste of the senior setup as the coach experiments with different options and tactical shapes.
He wants competition in every position. He wants players who can adapt to multiple systems. Above all, he wants quality that does not drop when he turns to the bench.
The World Cup run proved Morocco can stand toe-to-toe with the elite over a month-long tournament. The next phase will decide something else: whether the Atlas Lions can evolve quickly enough to stay there.
