Morocco as the first African side in World Cup history to get to the Semifinals have written their name in the book of history. Now the new standard for African teams to say the least, is the SEMIFINALS.
Morocco ranked 22nd in the world by FIFA suffered their first defeat in 11 games on Wednesday when they lost 2-0 to reigning champions France in the semi-finals of Qatar 2022.
Morocco’s loss ended hopes that they could become the first team from outside of Europe and South America to be crowned men’s world champions.
Nevertheless, they will still leave Qatar as the most successful African nation in World Cup history, yet.
Prior to 2022, only three African countries had reached the quarter-final stage and all had lost – Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).
Even though Morocco have been eliminated from the main race in Qatar, they still have one game left to play, the 3rd-place playoff against Luca Modric’s Croatian side on Saturday.
Despite the 3rd-place playoff being seen by many as the most meaningless game of all 64 played in the World Cup’s current format, Khalifa International Stadium is likely to be full at the weekend.
Morocco have been one of the best-supported nations in Qatar, where many fans from other Arab nations have adopted them as their second team.
The fans have not regretted their actions and they have also witnessed some excellent football results.
Morocco held 2018 finalists Croatia to a 0-0 draw in their Group X opener.
They then beat Belgium, the team ranked second in the world by FIFA, 2-0 before defeating Canada 2-1 to top Group X.
Next up was a penalty-shootout win over Spain in the round of 16 following no goals in 120 minutes.
A fourth clean sheet in five World Cup games then helped Morocco overcome Portugal 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
France proved a challenge too great but Morocco bowed out with their heads held high.
Morocco is expected to bid to host the World Cup in 2030.
With home advantage, is it possible to go a step further and get to the finals?
