By Colin Lim
January
“Avec nos lions!” triumphantly proclaimed the destination displays of the Casablanca buses.
Although the Atlas Lions had lost the World Cup semifinals to France a week earlier, the feeling of triumph was palpable under the balmy December sun. As traffic flowed along the wide boulevards of Morocco’s financial hub, adorned with red and green flags, the national team was eagerly welcomed home 80 kilometers away in Rabat. Riding in an open-top bus, conspicuously emblazoned with the national rallying cry, “Dima Maghrib,” the players were greeted by thousands of jubilant fans who recognized and appreciated the magnitude of their accomplishment.
The fact that Morocco’s national football team had even made it to this point was an impressive feat. Their unprecedented success rallied Morocco, the Moroccan diaspora, and Muslim communities of disparate origins worldwide behind a single team. As the first Arab or African country to advance to the semifinals, Morocco managed, at long last, to break the glass ceiling that had been so inviolably reserved for European and South American teams, the traditional strongholds of professional football. The players, whose feline moniker dates back to an extinct species that used to roam the mountains of North Africa, carry an array of passports, as the 26-person lineup includes only 12 players born on Moroccan soil and others born in France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada.
As the Moroccan team advanced through the World Cup, defeating Belgium, Canada, Spain, and Portugal, they captivated their audience and the world with several iconic images. Photographs that went viral displayed players’ jubilee — even embracing and kissing their mothers, à la Achraf Hakimi. Several photos of Moroccan players and staff united in prayer on the field, all facing the qibla and publicly affirming their faith, gained momentum among Muslim communities globally. The visibility of their devotion in the face of anti-Muslim sentiment in their European birth countries offered a source of inspiration and empowerment.
The success of the Moroccan team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup has disrupted the traditional balance of football. It has shown how the unassuming underdogs can, with the right combination of teamwork, persistence and a steadfast, strong-willed, bald-headed coach — Walid Regragui, nicknamed “avocado head”— attain new heights. The Atlas Lions will showcase their improvements at the next World Cup in North America, potentially contributing even more to the diversification of successful football teams.