At the just concluded Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Atlas Lions of Morocco, campaigning in a group that had 2018 runners-up, Croatia, and highly rated Belgium, topped to move into the round of 16 with unexpected ease. We believe no one saw that coming. The Atlas Lions also surprisingly beat South Africa 2010 winners, Spain 3-0 on penalties in the second round stage.

2016 UEFA European Championship winners, Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo as the main man, also lost 1-0 to Morocco in the quarter-finals as the Atlas Lions reached the semis, the first time in history for any African country. It is pertinent to look at the developments in Morocco in the past few months. The football federation is not making noise about its progress but the results are speaking loudly for the North Africans. Morocco has invested so much in football in the past five to seven years. No one expected their women’s national team to beat the almighty Super Falcons of Nigeria to pick the silver medal at the Africa Women’s Nations Cup.

This is neither luck nor coincidence but due to the resilience and hard work of the administrators of the ‘beautiful game’ in Morocco. Manager of the impressive team, Walid Regragui, who was only appointed in August, decided to open the doors of the national team to allow all foreign-born players to fight for shirts. We believe this strategy worked for him as Europeanborn Moroccans joined the pre- World Cup camp and the result is there for the whole world to see. No doubt, the Moroccans are the true pride of the African continent in a very competitive and scintillating World Cup – the first to take place in the Middle East.

The ticket to the semi-finals is not only historic but a big statement that Africa has huge talents to challenge the rest of the world in the round leather game. Even after losing 2-0 to France in the semi-final, the Atlas Lions gave a good account of themselves and although in the battle for bronze, Morocco lost 2-1 to Croatia, football lovers on the continent still celebrated the heroics of the North Africans in Qatar. We are aware King Mohammed VI is a huge football fan, who, alongside Morocco’s football federation (FMRF) President Faouzi Lekjaa, is responsible for massive support and financial investment – unrivalled in Africa. In recent years, Lekjaa – a CAF Vice President – has pulled many strings to the point whereby Morocco has become the focal point for the continental game, hosting several key meetings and tournaments.

In fact, Morocco, which twice failed in its bid to host the World Cup, will host the prestigious Club World Cup for the third time in February next year. No doubt, on the field, Morocco are on the rise, twice winning CHAN (for players based in domestic leagues) and reaching a first Women’s Nations Cup final and Women’s World Cup this year, on top of Wydad Casablanca becoming African club champions for the third time. Sadly, the Super Eagles on the contrary, failed to qualify for the Mundial and we expect that lessons must have been learnt from the ideals of Morocco and also the doggedness of the Atlas Lions on the pitch.

The Eagles will have to imbibe the spirit of the Moroccan players as the football lovers in the country look forward to the team to win the next AFCON and also qualify with ease to the next World Cup in 2026. Overall, the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup was very captivating in many ways. It was an event that took place in an unusual season rather than the usual summer. Clubs in Europe and South America were on break during the tournament – the first time in its 92-year history. After the upsets in the preliminaries, the knockout stage saw the separation of the boys from the men. The Germans were the biggest casualties in the group phase while Brazil, Holland and Spain were the knockout casualties who failed to make the last four. No one expected that the Argentine team that lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia in the very first match would still rally and make the final of the Mundial.

The Lionel Messi factor in Qatar was huge as he won the World Cup with Argentina to put to rest the question of the greatest of all time (GOAT) debate in the football fraternity. With seven goals in the competition, Messi is the ultimate football GOAT. Credit must go to France’s Kylian Mbappe, who emerged highest scorer with eight goals and put up a stunning performance in the final against Argentina. Sadly three African representatives crumbled in the first round – Ghana, Cameroon and Tunisia.

However, the Lions of Cameroon defeated Brazil 1-0 in the last group fixture but still failed to make the last 16 cut just as Tunisia defeated former world champions France 1-0 but this was still not good enough to progress from Group D. Senegal, without Bayern Munich’s Sadio Mane, were brilliant in the group phase and qualified for the last 16 stage only to crumble badly in losing 3-0 to England.

With Africa expected to produce nine automatic representatives with one other to fight for play offs, we expect the Eagles to pick a ticket to 2026 World Cup with ease but beyond that the football authorities should realise that Morocco has raised the bar for the continental representatives and so the time to start preparation is NOW.

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