Worn down after four years in charge of Morocco, Walid Regragui is expected to step down with the World Cup now less than four months away. The Moroccan federation, which met on Thursday, is likely to announce Regragui’s successor soon. The leading candidate is Mohamed Ouahbi, currently in charge of the nation’s U20 world champion side.
Elsewhere in sports, Lille OSC pulled off a stunning Europa League playoff comeback. Lille booked their spot in the last 16 with a 2-0 win away to Red Star Belgrade, overturning last week’s 1-0 home defeat. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring and netted the 300th club goal of his career.
Ligue 1 returns on Friday, with RC Lens – beaten by Monaco last week – able to go provisionally top with a win at RC Strasbourg Alsace.
In Spain, Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid’s all-time top scorer, is reportedly close to agreeing a move to Orlando City SC.
On the tennis courts at the ATP 500 in Dubai, Andrey Rublev ended Arthur Rinderknech’s run in the quarterfinals and will face Tallon Griekspoor on Friday for a place in the final. The other semifinal will pit Félix Auger-Aliassime against Daniil Medvedev.
Finally, in EuroLeague action, Real Madrid secured a ninth straight home win with a dominant victory over Bayern Munich.