Walid Regragui reveals the family struggle that shaped his ambitions

Walid Regragui has spoken about the personal sacrifices made by his mother and recalled working alongside her as a cleaner at Orly Airport in France during his youth.

The former Morocco manager discussed his early life in an emotional interview on the Maghareb podcast, broadcast via the Athir platform. He said he took the job during the summer holidays to pay for his own expenses, after his parents made clear that he would need to work if he wanted to fund his ambitions.

At the time, Regragui was studying and hoped to buy his first car and obtain a driving licence. His parents, however, believed he should take responsibility for the associated costs rather than rely on them financially.

His mother therefore took him with her to the airport, where she worked, and the pair were assigned to the night shift. Their working hours began at 22:00 and continued until 06:00.

Regragui said he managed the demanding routine for only one month. After finishing work in the morning, he would return home and sleep for a few hours before waking in the afternoon. He would then eat a quick meal and prepare to leave for another night at the airport.

The experience, he explained, made him think seriously about finding a different career path – one that could offer him a more secure future and spare him the level of physical hardship involved in the job.

But while Regragui found the schedule difficult to sustain for a month, he said his mother continued working in the same conditions for almost 30 years.

Her responsibilities extended far beyond her duties at Orly Airport. She would return home at 06:00 after the night shift, prepare breakfast and get her children ready for school. In the afternoon, she would welcome them home, cook lunch and help with their needs before taking only a short period of rest.

At 22:00, she would leave home again to begin another overnight shift.

Regragui used the contrast between his brief experience and his mother’s decades of work to underline the scale of her sacrifice. He ended the interview by expressing his deep gratitude for everything she endured to care for her family and provide her children with a decent life.

The former Morocco manager’s account was shared in a video accompanying the discussion, which focused on the hardship of his family’s early years and the determination that helped shape his outlook.

Regragui’s comments offer a personal insight into the background of the coach who led Morocco to an historic fourth-place finish at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. His reflections on his mother centred not on his own short spell at the airport, but on the much longer period she spent combining demanding night work with the daily responsibilities of raising her children.