Morocco selects Jorge Vilda to lead the women's national team to the 2027 World Cup
The Moroccan national team has made official the arrival of Jorge Vilda to the women's national team through a statement announcing that "The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has hired the Spanish coach, Mr. Vilda Rodriguez, to coach the women's national football team in the next stage, succeeding Mr. Reynald Pedros, whose functions ceased, thanking him for the work done during his mission in charge of the women's national football team, in particular the qualification for the second round of the World Cup tournament. Vilda Rodríguez won the last edition of the women's World Cup with the Spanish national team, which was played equally between Australia and New Zealand".
Pedros left Morocco in 12th place in their first ever World Cup. The players played four matches, won two and lost two, the last being a 4-0 defeat to France in the Round of 16. Before that, in the group stage, they had a better showing with 1-0 wins over Colombia and South Korea, although they were beaten again, this time 6-0 by Germany.
Vilda arrives in Morocco after a successful spell with the RFEF, where he crowned his years of success with the youth teams by lifting the World Cup at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney on 20 August. A title tarnished by the behaviour of former Spanish football president Luis Rubiales, who has ended up in court with, among others, Jorge Vilda under investigation for his behaviour on the flight back to Spain and alleged coercion of Jennifer Hermoso to apologise to Rubiales for her kiss at the trophy presentation.
But Morocco have chosen Vilda because they need a world champion and a veteran of women's football to raise the level of a team that has huge challenges ahead. At the last Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco lost 1-2 in the final at the Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat.
Vilda's big challenge is the Olympic Games in Paris next summer. Morocco have never played in this tournament and the road begins against Namibia on 23 October in the first leg of the quarter-finals. The return leg will be on Moroccan soil on 31 October and their semi-final opponent will be the winner of the Tunisia-Ivory Coast match. Recent friendlies after the World Cup have not been positive with defeats to Zambia 6-2 and 2-0.
Once Jorge Vilda begins his work in Morocco ahead of Paris 2024, it will be time to get the Atlas Lionesses into the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations and for the big event of the 2027 World Cup, which is the big goal that Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), has put on the table for Vilda. There is no venue yet, but South Africa and Brazil have already submitted their World Cup stadiums to host the event.
As for the players, the Spanish coach has a large squad with talents playing in Europe's top leagues for teams such as Napoli, Tottenham, Lille and Levante. AS FAR, CAK and RS Berkane are clubs in the Moroccan league where several players also play. Leading the way is the captain and striker of AS FAR, Ghizlane Chebbak, Morocco's most decorated footballer, who will be in charge of working with Jorge Vilda to raise the level of the North African team in the medium term to show that Morocco's work with women's sport is producing results.
