Morocco's U17 national team's fourth-place finish at AFCON raises concerns for National Technical Directorate

The team's performance against Egypt highlighted significant shortcomings, including a lack of inspiration, inability to challenge the opposing defense, and a playing level below expectations. Observers noted a technical and mental breakdown, marked by a lack of commitment and collective fight. Despite substantial investments in youth development, the team's uninspired showing at the Mohammed VI Football Complex has raised serious concerns.

The defeat is seen not as an isolated incident but as a symptom of a growing gap between national football ambitions and on-field reality, characterized by zero midfield creativity, recurring defensive errors, and sterile offensive play. This failure also brings into question the strategic choices made by the National Technical Directorate. The departure of Nabil Baha, who led the team to victory in the 2025 edition, is difficult for many national football observers to understand.

Baha had instilled a winning culture, mastered local specificities, and maintained essential psychological proximity with the adolescent players. The shift to a foreign coach, Tiago Lima Pereira, who is less familiar with traditional scouting circuits, is believed to have disrupted a successful transmission chain that had been effective since the era of Saïd Chiba. Prioritizing international cre