I might be biased but no matter who lifts the trophy tonight, the real winners of this year’s World Cup will be the Moroccan football team.
Everyone loves an underdog and their giant-slaying journey to the semi-finals has brought so much joy to fans from every nation.
Head coach Walid Regragui only joined the squad three months before kick-off and was derided as being an ‘avocado head’ by critics. But his squad topped their group, beating Belgium and Canada, drawing with Croatia, then knocking out Spain and Portugal in the following stages.
The victories are especially sweet when many of these countries do not treat Moroccan migrants with much respect. Overcoming the French was a stretch too far but the Atlas Lions leave with their heads held high.
It’s been wild for me, as a British-Moroccan, to see others embrace our culture and our players.
To be the first Muslim team, the first Arab team and the first African team to reach this stage is huge.
Morocco has social issues and poverty, but this is an achievement the country can be proud of. More widely, it’s a good news story for all Muslims, Africans and Arabs.
It’s refreshing after the understandable and justified negativity around host Qatar’s human rights record. I’m also delighted for Hakim Ziyech, who’s been having a tough time at Chelsea and then fell out with the previous Morocco manager earlier this year. The player had not been expected at the World Cup until Regragui took over.
Now he’s proved himself on the biggest stage in football, while giving every penny he earns to alleviate poverty in the country of his parents’ birth. It means the team’s success will be even more beneficial to the poorest in Moroccan society.
I know the red carpet will be rolled out when Ziyech and his teammates return home in the coming days, with music, pastries and mint tea.
Once again, the World Cup has proved bigger than football. Yes, it’s just a game but it can be so much more, too.
