Casablanca – Before Fouzi Lekjaa became president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), Hicham Dguig would arrive at its headquarters at eight in the morning, hoping to secure a training camp for his players. Sometimes, he would still be there at six in the evening.

He remembered people in the corridors asking, “Is that guy still here?”

Dguig recalled those days in a 2022 statement celebrating Morocco’s Arab Futsal Cup victory. For the three years before Lekjaa took office, he said, the national team had not secured a single training camp, despite qualifying for the World Cup. The coaching staff received no monthly salaries.

He told the story to thank Lekjaa for the support that followed under his presidency. Yet the memory of a coach waiting ten hours for somewhere to train his players says much about the early years of Moroccan futsal.

On Wednesday, Dguig watched Morocco defeat Angola 5-2 in Rabat and claim a fourth consecutive Futsal Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title. Thousands of supporters celebrated a team that had once struggled to secure the most basic preparations.

A passion born in Kenitra

Dguig grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Kenitra and played in KAC Kenitra’s youth ranks before discovering futsal. At Ajax Kenitra, club president Mohamed El Jamai entrusted him with coaching responsibilities while he was still a player.

The experience shaped his understanding of a sport in which decisions come quickly, and every player must think beyond a single position.

Dguig went on to represent Morocco and played as a playmaker, a role he later told FIFA had helped him understand how to carry a coach’s ideas onto the court.

In 2010, he took charge of the national team as a volunteer. According to SNRT News, he worked without a contract or financial incentives in those early years and sometimes paid for players’ equipment himself.

He could not have known then how far his team would go.

The accident that nearly ended everything

In 2012, a road accident involving members of the Kenitra-based Sebou futsal team changed Dguig’s life. The crash, which occurred during a trip to Tetouan, injured several people and claimed the life of Moroccan international Amine El Yazghi.

Dguig suffered a spinal injury. Speaking to FIFA in 2021, he recalled a period when he did not know whether he would ever walk again.

The accident also disrupted preparations for Morocco’s first Futsal World Cup that year. The national team considered withdrawing before ultimately competing in Thailand, where it exited in the group stage.

It was a painful beginning to Morocco’s World Cup history, and a reminder that the coach’s story has never been only about victories.

The conditions surrounding the national team improved after Lekjaa became federation president in 2014. Dguig has credited the FRMF with providing regular training camps, better facilities, and the support his players needed.

In 2016, Morocco beat Egypt 3-2 in Johannesburg to claim its first African title. Dguig’s team defeated Egypt again in the 2020 final, this time 5-0, and beat Angola 5-1 in Rabat to complete a third consecutive triumph in 2024.

Morocco also reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 2021 and 2024. Brazil ended both campaigns, but reaching the last eight twice showed how dramatically the Atlas Lions had improved.

The coach favors an approach in which players constantly change positions and share attacking and defensive duties. He has also worked on coaching education and the development of younger players.

In 2024, Futsalplanet named him the world’s best men’s national team coach for 2023.

More than a coach

For all the trophies, the relationship Dguig has built with his players may say just as much about him.

Captain Soufiane El Mesrar has spoken to FIFA about the sacrifices he witnessed during their years together and the freedom Dguig gives his players to express themselves.

SNRT News has described their relationship as almost paternal; Moroccan international Soufiane Chaaraoui has reportedly called Dguig “my father.”

Such affection cannot win matches on its own. But it helps explain the trust behind a team that has stayed together through difficult tournaments and learned to carry the expectations of a country.

This year’s AFCON offered another example. Morocco entered the final with four victories, 23 goals and none conceded. Angola scored twice on Wednesday, but Dguig’s players responded to secure a 5-2 victory and a record fourth title.

Afterward, he told CAF how difficult it is to remain at the top, thanked the supporters and credited his players for their work. He also made clear that Morocco must keep evolving as opponents learn how to counter its tactics.

Sixteen years after he began coaching the national team, Dguig still talks about the work ahead.

And perhaps that is the most fitting way to remember the man behind Morocco’s futsal success: not only with a trophy in his hands, but as the younger coach who spent an entire day waiting for a training camp, determined to give his players a chance.