Morocco boss Walid Regragui has been crowned CAF’s Best Coach of the Year for the men’s category after guiding his country to a historic World Cup semi-final run in Qatar.
The 48-year-old claimed African football’s top individual coaching prize at Monday’s awards ceremony in Marrakech after a remarkable 2022.
Regragui’s incredible impact saw him beat Senegal’s Aliou Cisse and Algeria’s Abdelhak Benchika to the coaching award.
Cisse was seeking to retain his crown after steering Senegal to AFCON glory last February before a last 16 World Cup run.
But Regragui won polls among coaches and media as his remarkable revolution with Morocco’s talented team claimed another deserved prize.
The Atlas Lions coach took charge of the side just three months before the World Cup but worked wonders to become the first African coach to reach the last four.
Victories over Belgium and Spain highlighted Morocco’s incredible campaign under a coach who has taken the football world by storm.
Regragui had only been appointed by the Morocco Football Federation in August after winning the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League with Wydad Casablanca.
Yet he transformed Morocco from outsiders into trailblazers who came within a whisker of the final before losing to defending champions France.