On the eve of facing Arsenal in the semi-finals of the FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 2026™, Mohamed Amine Alioua is relaxed. The coach of Moroccan giants ASFAR has good reason to be; his team has little to lose but much to gain in this new FIFA women’s competition.
Winners of the tournament’s Round 2 last December against China PR’s Wuhan Chegu Jiangda WFC, the Moroccans have already almost accomplished their mission: to showcase their talent to the world after impressing at national and continental level.
The team, which has won 12 Moroccan league titles and two CAF Champions Leagues, will now take on Arsenal on Wednesday at Brentford Stadium. While the 39-year-old coach knows that his opponents are “a very strong”, he also stated that his team would do everything they could to “take their chances and try to minimise the differences between the two teams”.
Mohamed Amine Alioua: It’s a new competition, a new challenge. It’s true that ASFAR is used to dominating at national and continental level, so now we’d like to go all the way because the whole team has worked hard to get here. It’s an honour and a privilege to be among the four best clubs in the world. So we’re going to go all the way.
Simply put, we’re going to play football. It’s true that our opponents are very strong, they’re a top-calibre team, and there are huge differences between the two teams. But ASFAR’s strength lies in its history and the individual qualities of its players. We’re going to try to build on that. And on the support of our fans, who are very passionate in Morocco, and on the support of our committee and our president. We’re going to draw on all of that to put in a good performance and do justice to the ASFAR emblem and Moroccan football.
I’m the last person who’s going to highlight individual players. It’s their own performance, their own talent and their potential [that will highlight them]. At ASFAR, we have three players who are African Ballon d’Or winners. There’s Sanaa [Mssoudy] who has two Ballons d’Or, there’s Doha El Madani who was voted best young African player and there’s [Fatima] Tagnaout. There are some very good players such as Anissa [Lahmari], Khadija [Er-Rmichi] and Hanane [Ait El Haj]. There are lots of good players.
And if you ask them that question, they’ll say that individual honours or distinguishing themselves individually is the least of their concerns. The most important thing for them, and for me too, is to perform well as a team and give it their all. Why not go all the way? In any case, we’re going to have fun and enjoy this match. It’s an opportunity to learn.
This competition is played on another level. The parameters are not the same as in national or continental competitions, the playing fields are not the same. It’s a little more professional and structured. By the grace of God, we were able to beat Wuhan, who were a strong team in the last ten minutes. We expect the match [against Arsenal] to be… I’m not going to say a gala match, but it’ll be a great football match. We’re not going to miss out. We’re here, we’re going to take our chance and try to minimise the differences between the two teams.
I would be the last person in the world to say anything bad about Arsenal, whether it’s the men’s or women’s team. They are European champions, they beat FC Barcelona. We follow them in the English league, they are a team that is complete in all areas of the game. We have great respect for them, for their staff and for their coach. This will be an opportunity for us to show the whole world what Moroccan football is all about. I really hope we don’t miss this chance.
Yes, of course. Right after we won the African Champions League, after Wuhan to be precise, we watched quite a few of their matches. We were already in the habit of following the English league, particularly Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea, who are considered to be the leading teams in the English league. It’s true that they don’t have many gaps, many weaknesses compared to us, but I think we can compete. They are a very complementary team, with immense individual and collective qualities. We’ll find out how it goes on the pitch.
Of course we’re ready. We were ready the moment we won the African Champions League. From the moment we beat Wuhan, we were ready, especially psychologically. We tried to prepare the players mentally, because this is a competition on another level. It’s true that this is the first match of this calibre in the careers of some of the players – and perhaps the last for a few of them. But, Alhamdulillah, we’re ready.
