Wahbi between the ecstasy of winning and the legacy of Rekraki.

With the experience of winning the world title at the Youth World Cup and the heavy legacy of his predecessor Walid Regragui, who achieved an unprecedented feat in Qatar in 2022, Mohamed Wahbi, the new coach of the "Atlas Lions," carries a significant burden on his shoulders as he embarks on the journey of the FIFA World Cup in North America.

Wahbi (50 years old) worked in the shadows within training centers with youth categories in Belgium, achieving remarkable results, especially with Anderlecht. However, he suddenly found the spotlight on him after leading the "Atlas Cubs" to win the Under-20 World Cup, an unprecedented achievement that placed him at the helm of the national team's technical management, succeeding his compatriot Regragui.

His exceptional title at the 2025 World Cup in Chile earned him a promotion last December, as he was tasked with leading the Olympic team (under 23), succeeding his compatriot Tarik Skitiwi, who was also a candidate to take over the technical management of the senior team in preparation for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

However, Wahbi's journey with the Olympic team did not begin, following his swift appointment to succeed Regragui, and here too he performed well, at least until the eve of the global celebration.

Wahbi, who has never played professional football unlike most coaches in this position, led the "Atlas Lions" in five matches without tasting defeat, achieving three victories over Paraguay 2-1, Burundi 5-0, and Madagascar 4-0, along with two draws against Ecuador and Norway, both ending 1-1.

Wahbi acknowledged the magnitude of the responsibility placed on him since his appointment, stating: "I am very proud and also aware of the level of expectations, and I commit to working with seriousness, humility, determination, and above all, with a lot, a lot of patriotism to continue developing this group." He added: "Today we have a solid team, a team in progress, still hungry, and above all, it does not suffer from any complexes."

Wahbi relied on the same core players as his predecessor Regragui and reinforced it with promising players he knows well, including Belgian Genk defender Zakaria Wahidi (24 years old) and Strasbourg winger Yassine Jassim (20 years old), with whom he won the youth world title, in addition to recent arrivals Aïssa Diop (Fulham, England) and Ayoub Bouaddi (Lille, France), Ayoub Amimouni (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), and Samir Merabet (Strasbourg).

Wahbi encourages adopting a proactive playing style based on ball control, initiative, and creating "positive movements." The youth teams he oversaw in Brussels were described as dynamic and inclined towards attacking play, with high pressing and quick build-up, within a framework that alternated between 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 formations depending on the age group and context, while maintaining high technical requirements and speed of execution.