FIFA WC: Years of Planning, Diaspora Players Played Key Role in Morocco's Run

Morocco's dream run at the 2022 FIFA World Cup ended with a semi-final loss to France.

(Photo: PTI)

A Morocco match at the 2022 World Cup was never complete without the deafening roar from the stands. The fans would get behind their team and create a raucous atmosphere in the last 15 minutes or so. It kind of became a routine that egged on the players as they trounced the Goliaths of the football world, one at a time.

The Morocco spectators were about to explode again in the last 15 minutes of their semi-final contest against France at the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday. The Atlas Lions might have been trailing 1-0 but they were putting up a fight. And that was enough to encourage the supporters to create a ‘nasty’ ambience.

They also probably sensed that Morocco were perhaps close to scoring. After all, there were a few instances of near misses that could have been converted into goals on better days for Moroccan football. Take, for example, Javed El Yamiq’s overhead kick that hit the post at the stroke of halftime. Or Abderrazak Hamadallah’s weaving run into the France box in the 76th minute which surprisingly petered out without the striker pulling the trigger.

However, a moment of brilliance from Kylian Mbappe took the sting out of Morocco’s fight in the 79th minute. The Frenchman twisted and turned as he burst into the penalty box, evading the challenges of numerous Morocco players before taking a shot at goal. The ball hit a Morocco defender before the rebound fell kindly for substitute Randal Kolo Muani who smashed home his first World Cup goal.

The goal pretty much silenced the crowd and killed off the buzz. After all, Morocco’s dream of becoming the first African and Arab country to make the final of the World Cup was drawing to a close. Now, there were only pockets in the crowd that still believed that Morocco could turn it around from here. But that would eventually not happen as France would win 2-0.

Even as the Moroccan players slumped to the ground heartbroken, the significance of their achievement was not lost on their numerous fans. They cheered their heroes because each one of them personified the aspirations and hopes of not only Morocco but the entire African and Arab world.

The varied fan base was also a testament to the diversity of this team. The Moroccan squad comprised 14 of the 26 footballers who play for a country different from the one they were born in. Take for example, Achraf Hakimi. The fullback, who had calmly slotted home the winning penalty against Spain in the round of 16 match, was born in Madrid. So, in a way, he dealt the knockout blow to the country where he spent his childhood. Similarly, the 31-year-old goalkeeper Yassine Bounou is also a diaspora player who was born in Canada and spent eight years in Montreal before finally moving back to Morocco.

While there is certainly a deep social, political and economical aspect to it, the different upbringings of these players could have made the situation complex for the side. Fortunately, things have worked out well for Walid Regragui’s team. This is probably because the players found unity in diversity. They shared the dressing room over the last few years, connected with each other emotionally, and developed a chemistry between them.

Another big reason why the players bonded with each other is because of their parent’s sacrifice to give their children better lives. “My mother cleaned the houses and my father was a street vendor.

We come from a modest family that struggled to earn a living. Today I fight every day for them. They sacrificed themselves for me. They deprived my brothers of many things for me to succeed,” Hakimi once told Bundesliga.com.

That’s why Hakimi probably sprinted to celebrate with his mother after burying the penalty in style. The picture, one for posterity, went viral on social media platforms.

The story, though, doesn’t end with Hakimi’s mother. Be it striker Zakaria Aboukhlal’s father or midfielder Bilal el-Khannouss’s dad, the parents of most Moroccan players were here in Doha, giving a vibe of one big happy family.

In fact, it was Regragui and Royal Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa’s idea to allow family members to travel with Moroccan squad members to Doha. And the idea worked wonders for the team.

On an infrastructural level, the Royal Moroccan football federation had also invested in several programmes and inaugurated a state-of-the-art facility back in 2009 that helped in developing current players like Nayef Aguerd and Youssef En-Nesyri. The scouts employed by the federation also unearthed diasporic talent from across Europe. And their investment has finally begun to pay off.

The Moroccan clubs are also present holders of the men’s African Champions League title and Confederations Cup. But the icing on the cake was the team’s performance in the World Cup where they defeated favourites like Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.

The victories helped Morocco reach a dreamland and their thousands of fans, who had made Qatari stadiums their second home, will be waiting expectantly to see how the future unfolds for their team.