Regragui had to replace Romain Saiss in the first half, while Noussair Mazraoui went off at half-time, having both coming into the game as injury doubts. Nayef Aguerd was unable to take his place due to injury as well.
Les Bleus got the edge after goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani, with the former striking in the fifth minute to ensure the world champions were always in control.
“At a World Cup, this was one step too far, not for the quality or tactics, but physically we came up short,” Regragui said.
“We had too many players who were at 60-70 per cent, but nevertheless got through to the semi-finals.
“My players gave a very good image of our team, and we showcased our quality.
“We wanted to rewrite the history books, but you can’t win the World Cup through miracles, you need hard work and that is what we are going to continue to do.”
Regragui added that he was full of pride after a campaign that saw his side become the first African nation to reach the last four.
“We realised we made a great achievement already, we know that the media supported us and on the TV, we saw how proud everyone was,” he said.
“We are disappointed, we wanted to keep the Moroccan people’s dream alive. We are going to have to digest this defeat. We are pleased with what we have achieved, but we felt we could have gone even further.
“I told the players I am proud of them, the whole of Morocco is proud of them and so is the world. We worked hard; played honest football and that is what we wanted to do.
“We gave a good image of Morocco and Africa, representing our country and our continent. We went as far as we could in the competition and that is great, but we are going to have to do even better in the future.
“We have to do that regularly if we want to be on the footballing map. We may not be as good as Spain, Brazil or England, but I want to qualify for every competition. We have shown Africans we are capable of going toe-to-toe with the best.”