Younes Belhanda says he remains bitter towards Walid Regragui after being left out of Morocco’s squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The former Morocco international, who won 59 caps and now plays for Al-Sailiya in Qatar, was excluded from the tournament squad despite Morocco going on to reach the semi-finals. That made them the first African and Arab team to achieve the feat.
Belhanda, 36, said his disappointment had never fully gone away because Regragui did not explain why he had been omitted.
“Even today, I still hold a grudge against Walid Regragui. I did not understand it,” Belhanda said on the Riolo Club programme, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.
The former Montpellier player added: “He did not even call me, nothing at all. It hurt a lot, and I still have not got over it.”
Hope of a return
Belhanda had expected to return to the Morocco squad after Regragui replaced Vahid Halilhodzic as manager.
He had worked with Regragui previously, when the coach was his assistant, and said the two had maintained a close relationship and spoken regularly.
“I had spent two years without being called up by Morocco, and my relationship with Walid Regragui was very close,” Belhanda said.
“He had been my assistant coach and we used to talk a lot. Then he called me up to the national team just before the World Cup and gave me hope.”
Belhanda said the decision had affected him, although it had not destroyed him.
“It did not destroy me, but it definitely affected me,” he said.
The midfielder said the lack of communication was harder to accept than the omission itself. He tried to contact Regragui after the final squad was announced but received no response.
“On the day the squad was announced, I called him, but he did not answer,” Belhanda said. “I only wanted an explanation.
“Be a man and tell me: ‘Younes, I am making my decisions.’ I was not 15 years old; I was 32. I would have understood, and it would have been easier to accept.”
He added: “But there was not even one call, nothing. It hurt a lot, and I still have not got over it.”
‘I did not even watch the matches’
Belhanda also admitted that his anger affected the way he experienced Morocco’s historic run in Qatar.
“I did not care, and I did not even watch the matches,” he said.
He compared that reaction with the way he followed the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final against Senegal.
“I watched the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final against Senegal, but not in the way I watch Morocco’s matches,” he said. “You can see how far that anger went.”
