DOHA, Qatar — Fatima Regragui is in her late 60s. When her son Walid was a professional player — he had spells in the French leagues with teams such as Toulouse and Ajaccio, while also making 45 appearances for Morocco — she never travelled anywhere to see him in action. Not even when he was playing in Paris, where she lives, and where Walid was born 47 years ago. Not once.
Yet she has been in Doha since the start of the FIFA World Cup, looked after by the Moroccan FA like all the visiting families of players and staff. And it’s fair to say that she has been her son’s lucky charm.
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Walid Regragui’s story in this tournament is a football fairy tale. Eight months ago, when the Atlas Lions qualified for Qatar 2022, the former right-back would never have imagined that he’d have sat on the bench of the national team during the tournament. There had been rumours about him replacing Vahid Halilhodzic at the helm, but they never went further. Yet on Wednesday, he will face Didier Deschamps’ France for a place in the World Cup final.
Regragui grew up on the Montconseil council estate in Corbeil-Essonnes, in the suburbs to the south of Paris. His dad was a builder, who asked his son only to do well at school. So Walid did. He was smart, earning his baccalaureate degree before going to a university to study economics.
