Regardless of whatever happens on Wednesday, December 14, in their semifinal clash against the defending champions, France, Morocco have certainly had a successful outing in Qatar and etched its name in the annals of world football by becoming the first African nation to play in the penultimate stage of the biggest football fiesta in the world – the FIFA World Cup. But Sportsafricana.com fancies that an encore is still very much on the card and Morocco can yet claim their biggest victims in Qatar by beating France.
“The Golden generation” of Belgium fell at the group stage. Sleek Spain were slayed in the round of 16. Ronaldo’s Portugal succumbed at the quarterfinal hurdle. The unlikely conquerors of these giants of world football claiming these big scalps at the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar are the Atlas Lions of Morocco. Who would have thought? Well, they are underdogs no more! Raise a glass to the giant-killing Africans who have rewritten the history of the game in Qatar!
As far as an ominous preparation for a global sports meet goes, no one could have scripted the Moroccan run of success in Qatar. Their Coach, Walid Regragui, was only appointed on August 31, 2022, as a replacement for Vahid Halilhodzic who was sacked a few months before the first World Cup in the Middle East.
Although Halilhodzic successfully guided Morocco to qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, things were not quite as rosy behind the scenes and dressing room rifts forced the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, to part ways with the Bosnian, setting off a frantic search for a coach who could restore unity to the dressing room.
The Morocco FA were looking for someone who could both resolve players’ disputes and integrate Moroccan league players into the team. The search fell on 47-year-old Regragui – who as a player did not play in a World Cup despite his international career spanning from 2002 to 2011 because the Atlas Lions failed to qualify during the period. Regragui’s stand-out achievement on the international stage was in the 2004 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, when Morocco got to the final, falling just short against hosts, Tunisia.
Prior to his appointment as Atlas Lions Coach, Regragui led Wydad to the CAF Champions League crown this year. Perhaps Regragui alerted the world to what is playing out in Qatar now and only that the world failed to take note. For in his first press conference after his appointment, Regragui was very clear about his intent: “I’m not here to find excuses. Our goal is to do our best at the World Cup and make our fans proud.” Alas, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal missed that!
In Qatar, Morocco have not only made their fans proud, millions of football-crazy Africans – well, and Arabs – are currently walking around the globe with some new springs to their steps because of the Moroccans’ impressive performance against some of the global football powerhouses.
After taking charge of the team, the first thing Regragui did was recall some want-away players to the national team. Prominent among the recalled absentees was striker Abderrazak Hamdallah, who had not featured for the national team since 2019. Also recalled was the exiled Hakim Ziyech. Other stars listed by Regragui in the 26-man squad on November 15, 2022, included goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and defender Achraf Hakimi.
Right from kick-off in Qatar, Morocco gave a glimpse of their quality when they opened their campaign in Group F against 2018 finalists, Croatia. The Moroccans created several begging chances to humble the Croats but their efforts were thwarted by the European side who have also made it to the semis and have a Tuesday, December 13, date with Leo Messi and his Argentine side. Despite the fact that both teams showed promise in that opening match, it ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
The Moroccans’ next opponents were Belgium. Considered “the Golden Generation” of Belgian football, the Belgians were tipped to advance from the group and go far in the competition. But the star-studded former world number one team were stunned by the Moroccans with a 2-0 win which tore up the books as far as predictions go.
A fluke win!, choruses naysayers. However, the Moroccans answered back with another convincing 2-1 win over debutant Canada to lead the group with seven points, ahead of Croatia. This set up a round-of-16 battle against 2010 champions, Spain.
Against the Spaniards, Morocco played their heart out in a pulsating 0-0 draw. In the resulting spot kick, goalkeeper Bounou saved the day for Morocco with a superb display as the Spaniards failed to put the ball behind the net in the penalty shootout, thereby handing a 3-0 win to Morocco. This earned the only surviving African team a passage to the quarterfinal, a feat that has only been achieved by three other African teams in the past – Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana.
In the quarterfinal, the Moroccans went up against a Portuguese team with one of the greatest footballers of all time – Cristiano Ronaldo. But in the true element of giant killers, the Moroccans did the impossible against the former European champions as Youssef En-Nesyri’s 42nd-minute headed goal was enough to knock out the Portuguese in an explosive quarterfinal encounter in which the Africans saw a soft red card in the last 15 minutes of the game.
That win put Morocco a notch higher than all other African countries who had played in the FIFA World Cup. It was historic as Morocco became the first African nation to play in the semifinal of the FIFA World Cup.
To summon a metaphor for the journey it has been one giant roadkill after the other for Morocco in Qatar.
On Wednesday, December 14, the Moroccans will aim for another massive take-down when they take on defending champions France in the second semifinal tie of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
There is another French connection to this tie at the Al Bayt Stadium. Regragui was born in France and he played most of his career as a tough-as-nail right back in the land of Napoleon Bonaparte. Little wonder his team defend so stoutly against the elites of the sport on the biggest stage possible. And, like Regragui, the majority of members of this Moroccan squad were born overseas, a whopping 14 of their 26 players – the most of any nation.
If these African giant killers hit the final, they will be the first nation outside Europe and South America.
Nevertheless, no matter what happens against reigning champions France, the Atlas Lions have inked their way into the record books. Their Qatar 2022 exploits will be recalled with relish for decades to come in the world of football.