Walid Regragui Wins CAF Coach of the Year for Guiding Morocco to FIFA World Cup Semi Finals

• Walid Regragui crowned 2023 CAF Coach of the Year for his work with Morocco's national team
• Regragui became the first coach to guide an African team to a FIFA World Cup semi-final
• He beat 2022 winner Alliou Cisse and former USM Alger coach Abdelhak Benchikha

Navigating uncharted waters deserves unprecedented rewards

Home town hero Walid Regragui notched up a win for the hosts of the CAF Awards by being crowned 2023 CAF Coach of the Year.

The former Moroccan player becomes the first Moroccan coach to earn the award, fittingly doing so under the glittering Marrakech sky.

Regragui's win comes off the back of guiding Morocco to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup, the first African team ever to do so.

The 48-year-old joined the national team setup just five months before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, leaving his post at Wydad Casablanca.

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His impact was immediate as they beat Chile and Georgia in pre-tournament friendlies. In the group stage, they would beat Belgium and Canada, while drawing to Croatia.

Their fairytale run would hit its stride with a penalty shootout defeat of Spain in the Round of 16 before eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

Beating France in the semi-final would be a step too far, but they had already won the hearts of the continent.

Morocco won the CAF Team of the Year voted by the fans and Regragui made it two out of two for the squad. Speaking after receiving his award, Regragui said:

"I would thank his Majesty The King, for his forward-looking vision. For the players, we are nothing without the players. Thank you for believing in us during our World Cup run. Lastly, I'd like to thank my wife and children."

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A full list of Africa's best since 1992

Sports Brief recently compiled a list of all the previous winners of the CAF Player of the Year award.

Victor Osimhen, Achraf Hakimi, and Mohamed Salah are the three finalists for the 2023 honour.

The 2023 CAF Awards are being held at the Movenpick Hotel in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.