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Morocco’s strong World Cup run will continue in the round of 16 this week.
Morocco tied with Croatia in its first match at the World Cup in Doha before defeating both Belgium and Canada. Morocco ended up winning Group F and thereby advanced to the round of 16, along with Group F runner-up Croatia.
This is only the second time in history that Morocco has advanced beyond the Group stage, and the first time since 1986.
Many of Morocco’s players are from Europe but have Moroccan heritage. Stars Achraf Hakimi and Sofiane Boufal are from Spain and France, respectively. Among the players who scored goals in the Group stage, all but one are from Europe: Romain Saiss is from France, while Hakim Ziyech and Zakaria Aboukhlal are from the Netherlands. Youssef En-Nesyri, on the other hand, is from the Moroccan city of Fez.
The Moroccan team also notably has a Moroccan coach: Walid Regragui. Many of the teams from the Middle East and North Africa have European coaches.
Morocco will face Spain on Tuesday. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals. Spain is favored in the matchup.
Palestine solidarity: The Moroccan team and its fans have also been using the stage in Qatar to express support for the Palestinian people. After the win against Canada, one Moroccan player waived a Palestinian flag on the field. During the Belgium match, Moroccan fans and help up a large banner reading “free Palestine.”
These displays led Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour to declare the state of Palestine the “winner of this World Cup.”
Moroccan soccer fans showing solidarity with the Palestinians is not new, but it has sometimes been expressed using antisemitism. In 2019, fans in Casablanca sang a song about Palestine that referenced “greedy Jews.” The video was widely shared recently when people on social media falsely said it was from the current World Cup.
Despite the pro-Palestine sentiment in Morocco, the Moroccan government is an ally of Israel.
Know more: Five teams from the Middle East and North Africa qualified for the World Cup this year: Morocco, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and host Qatar. All but Morocco failed to advance to the round of 16. Saudi Arabia pulled off a major upset against Argentina, leading the government to declare a national holiday, but then lost to both Poland and Mexico. Iran nearly made it to the round of 16, but lost a nail-biter 1-0 to the United States. The ongoing protests in Iran hovered over the US-Iran match, but players from both teams displayed sportsmanship and embraced each other afterwards.
