THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY
THE CHOICE
Fourteen of Morocco's squad were born abroad, in cities like Madrid, Amsterdam and Paris. Achraf Hakimi, born in Madrid, once tried out for Spain. Hakim Ziyech, born in the Netherlands, said his heart chose Morocco. Coach Walid Regragui had been in the job about three months.
QATAR 2022
Morocco topped a group with Belgium and Croatia, beat Spain on penalties after 120 goalless minutes with Bono the hero, then beat Portugal 1-0 through an En-Nesyri header. They became the first African and first Arab semi-finalists, finishing fourth.
AFTER
Bronze at the Paris Olympics. As hosts of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations they lost the final 1-0 to Senegal, who then walked off. CAF later awarded Morocco a 3-0 forfeit under the walk-over rule born of Morocco's own 1976 walkout: their first title in 50 years, a ruling Senegal has contested.
NOW
At the 2026 World Cup they held Brazil and knocked out the Netherlands.
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THE TERRACES — DISCUSSION
The argument also lives in the YouTube comments ↗.