France vs Morocco isn’t just another World Cup quarter-final. For many Moroccan fans, it’s unfinished business.
Four years ago, France ended Morocco’s extraordinary World Cup run in Qatar, knocking out the first African and Arab nation ever to reach a World Cup semi-final.
On Thursday in Boston they meet again, but this time Morocco aren’t returning as football’s dreamers.
They’re returning believing they belong.
“This is a revenge match for the Moroccan national team,” says Moroccan sports journalist Hamza Chtioui.
“Especially for the players who were part of that 2022 squad. They felt that loss deeply, and now they’re looking to settle the score – for themselves and for the team.”
‘What happened in Qatar wasn’t a fluke’
I still remember standing inside Al Bayt Stadium that night in Qatar. Even in defeat, there was a sense that something extraordinary had happened. Morocco had changed the way the football world saw them.
Back then, simply reaching the semi-finals felt like a miracle.
Today, reaching the semi-finals would simply meet expectations.
“In 2022 we were the dreamers,” says Chtioui. “Now people’s expectations are much higher. Anything less than the semi-finals wouldn’t be considered an achievement.”
That confidence isn’t built on nostalgia.
Since Qatar, Morocco’s Under-20 side has won the Under-20 World Cup, the senior team has climbed to sixth in Fifa’s rankings, and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation’s (RMFF) long-term investment in youth development is beginning to bear fruit.
“What happened in Qatar wasn’t a fluke,” says veteran Moroccan journalist Hameed Bel Hassan.
“It was the result of years of strategic planning and programmes put in place by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. This has been a national project. We now have a formidable national team.”