“Our own objective is clear” – Reynald Pedros on Morocco’s chances of qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Round of 16

by
Cameron Wyper
August 2, 2023

Morocco head coach Reynald Pedros hopes his team can continue to create history as they have the chance to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup knockout stages.

Sunday’s 1-0 win over South Korea means that Morocco can still qualify for the knockout stages with a win against Colombia, although they need to either win by three goals or hope that Germany fails to win.

For now, the French coach says his team are focusing on what they need to do to give themselves the best opportunity to qualify.

“The expectations are simple; we must find a way to win.” Pedros said in his pre-match press conference.

“We must find a way to win our third group stage match and hope with a little bit of luck it is enough to qualify. Our own objective is clear. We have given ourselves the opportunity to get six points from the group stage, and so we must do what is necessary to get these points.

“It is extraordinary that in our first participation in a World Cup we can still qualify [for the knockout stages] but we need to take our chances to get there.”

The challenge ahead of Pedros’ team is a steep one. Colombia currently top Group H, winning both of their opening matches of the tournament. However, Pedros believes his team are up for the challenge.

“I think we realise we are still able to achieve results against teams far superior to us. The World Cup is magic. There are matches that we are expected to lose in but we are able to win.

“I don’t think our lack of experience prevents us from getting results, because we have all the necessary ingredients to go for the win. There are plenty of parameters that go into this match but we know what we need to do going into this third match. We have our qualities and our faults, but we have a very specific objective too.”

Colombia’s star player of the tournament so far is 18-year-old Linda Caicedo, who scored one of the goals of the tournament so far in the South American side’s 2-1 win over Germany. However, there are question marks over her participation in tomorrow’s match as she struggles with exhaustion. That being said, Pedros is still keen for her to be fit for tomorrow’s match against his side.

“Linda is a good player, a young player with a big future who has done great things in this tournament. I sincerely hope tomorrow is not too much for her.”

Tomorrow’s match in Perth will kick off at 11am WEST, whilst Germany face South Korea simultaneously.