The Moroccan football squad became the first Arab and African team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup, after kicking out Ronaldo and his friends.
This historic, groundbreaking event came after years of successive setbacks with which the Moroccan Football Federation grappled for a long time.
The inception of the Federation was in 1956. 310 local teams joined the newly-created body to kick-start the national championship and begin competing in regional and international competitions.
The Federation joined FIFA in 1960, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 1963, where numerous national teams stood out and began to shine, notably WAC, Raja Athletic Club (RCA), Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal (As-FAR), and Olympique Khouribga Club (OCK).
Under the Federation’s umbrella, the National football team competed in six World Cups: 1970 in Mexico, 1986 in Mexico, 1994 in the United States, 1998 in France, 2018 in Russia, and 2022 in Qatar. In 1986, the Atlas Lions made history and advanced to the knockouts.
As for Moroccan Clubs, the first club to play in the Club World Cup was Raja in 2000 in Brazil, after winning the African Champions League (CAF). It played in it again in 2013.
At the Continental level, the National team won the CAF in 1976, finished runner-up in 2004, and ranked third in 1980.
14 Moroccan Clubs had already participated in the CAF, but only 4 could win Cups. Raja of Casablanca had won 7 titles between the Champions League, the Confederation Cup and the Super Cup. Wydad won 5 trophies, As-FAR 2, Maghreb of Fes (MAS) 2, and Kawakab of Marrakesh 1.
Moroccan youth perceive football as a safe haven from a reality that might be harsh. Youngsters, as staunch supporters, live for cheering the national team and their favorite clubs, nationally and internationally. For years, they gave up hope in the national team, especially after 2004, when the Atlas lions went through a period of trophy drought in terms of participation and performance.
This poor performance might be explained by several reasons, especially changing of coaches (14 coaches from 2004 to 2022), which makes the national team weak and dysfunctional.
The Moroccan football started recovering after hosting the world cup of clubs in 2013, where Raja reached the cup final and was crowned runner-up, after Bayern Munich.
Futsal was also revived in the past few years when the National Team won twice the African Futsal Cup of Nations in 2016 and 2020. The world ranking of this type of sport places Morocco in the 8th spot internationally.
The National Team of Locals won the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in 2018 led by Hussein Ammouta.
Moroccan Clubs rose recently to the challenge at the continental level. Wydad won the Champions League (CAF) twice, in 2017 and 2021-22 and the Super Cup in 2018. Raja of Casablanca earned two Confederation Cups in 2018 and 2020, in addition to the Super Cup in 2019. Renaissance Sportive de Berkane (RSB) worked miracles recently by winning the Confederation Cup twice (2020-2022), in addition to the Super Cup in 2022.
But this year is very special for the Moroccan Football which did great at all levels. Wydad won the Champions League and RSB won the Super Cup and the Confederation Cup, while As-FAR was the winner of the CAF Women’s Champions league.
And now, Morocco’s football team is playing in the semifinals against France. Morocco is the only African and Arab country to have reached this stage of the game, and coach Walid Regragui is the only African and Arab coach to have achieved this accomplishment.
Good Luck to our Atlas Lions…