SOCCER: Strugglers no more: Morocco fans brimming with pride at being part of World Cup elite

BOSTON – For Morocco fans gathering in Boston on Thursday ahead of their team’s next World Cup match, the days when the Atlas Lions were considered African underdogs feel like a distant memory.

Semi-finalists in 2022, Morocco are now ranked seventh in the world and led Brazil in their opening match of this year’s tournament before settling for a 1-1 draw.

A win against Scotland on Friday would put the North Africans in a strong position to advance to the knockout stage, with Haiti, considered the group’s weakest side, still to come.

Supporters waved red-and-green flags, released smoke flares, and danced to drumbeats during an eve-of-match gathering at Boston Common in the city center.

Many fans said the higher expectations surrounding Moroccan football have now become the standard, pointing to a squad featuring players from some of Europe’s top clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi and Real Madrid midfielder Brahim Díaz.

“To get to the World Cup used to be an achievement,” said Oussama Khatem, a 35-year-old financial crime investigator from Montreal, as he pushed his two young children in a stroller draped in the Moroccan flag.

“Now there is no big difference with Germany, France, or Spain. Every time you see Morocco in the World Cup, you expect them to compete.”

Khatem, like many Moroccan supporters, credits the team’s rise to both foreign-born talent and the creation of the Mohammed VI Football Academy in 2010, established when the country’s football program was struggling after failing to qualify for the World Cup since 1998.

Morocco returned to the tournament in 2018 before making a historic run four years later in Qatar, defeating Belgium, Spain, and Portugal en route to the semifinals before losing to France.

Last year, Morocco won the Under-20 World Cup, raising expectations for another generation of emerging talent.

That pipeline of players will have a major stage ahead when Morocco co-hosts the 2030 World Cup with Portugal and Spain.

Khatem said Morocco’s rise is now being seen as a model for other African nations and developing countries.

“Morocco is showing all African countries, and all countries, that they can reach the top four,” he said.

Moussin Muslih, 52, who traveled from Morocco to the United States for the group-stage matches, said he was confident of a victory against Scotland and another deep tournament run similar to 2022.

“We hope this World Cup will be another amazing run, Inshallah (God willing),” he said. -Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Peter Rutherford/Reuters