BENGALURU: In a parallel universe, Ayyoub Bouaddi would have been at the World Cup for France. On Thursday afternoon, the midfielder will line up for Morocco against France. Not just Bouaadi; 14 other players in the roster picked Morocco over the country of their birth. However, the African nation, which poured money into football over the last 15 years, identified young players and actively made them feel wanted. They also gave them the best facilities. It's not a coincidence that they won the Under-20 World Cup last year.
This is one of the most modern international teams, but this isn't simply a story of immigration only. It's also a story of the prevailing political climate in Europe and using football as a tool to spread a message of positivity among the masses back home. "Morocco is at an important moment in its own history," Simon Chadwick, a professor of Afro-Eurasian sport at Emlyon Business School, tells this daily. "The country seeks to assert itself regionally, across Africa and globally. Amongst other things, this means enticing its best talent, and the talent within its global diaspora communities, either back to the country or else to represent it."
Around the time Moroccan scouts and federation officials started leaving voice notes, something unrelated started happening in Europe. A rising wave of Islamophobia, xenophobia or just a general lack of respect towards immigrant communities. Here's Chadwick. "This is a specific and deliberate strategy on the part of the government, which believes that Morocco should be the beneficiary of talent rather than countries such as France and the Netherlands. Adding impetus to this move, the rise of far-right politics across Europe has led many diasporic communities to contemplate their heritage and to reframe their sense of self and identity.
"Many people of Moroccan heritage who are living overseas feel alienated, marginalised and disrespected; hence they increasingly choose to identify with their parents' and grandparents' country of birth. This often manifests itself via national team football fandom, which nowadays carries added legitimacy and credibility following the Moroccan national team's recent successes."
French footballers, including captain Kylian Mbappe and reigning Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembele, are very vocal and have repeatedly urged people to vote out hatred, so it's an issue that remains front and centre. In fact, Ligue Un, France's top-tier league, came in for heavy criticism when they said there would be no in-game stoppages for Muslim players to break their fast during the holy month of Ramadan. There's also continuous rhetoric from far-right voices within the country who have called Les Bleus 'the suburbs of Arab-Muslim immigration'.
Till a few months ago, Bouaddi, already worth 100 million, was the captain of one of France's age-group sides. In May, he had declared his allegiance to the country of his parents. The French federation had given him a pathway but had privately held that the World Cup would be too soon. Because he was yet to be capped in a senior competitive game, Morocco saw an opportunity to engage.
Before Bouaddi, there was Achraf Hakimi. The right-back was born in Spain and educated at one of the most famous clubs in the world, Real Madrid. He even attended a few age-group camps. Yet, when it was time to declare, he picked Morocco. "I didn't feel comfortable with Spain," he had said. "For my career and for my parents, choosing Morocco felt like the right and most natural decision."
Those thoughts were front and centre when Spain hosted Egypt in a friendly in April 2026. Sections of the crowd chanted ‘’musulman el que no bote es (whoever does not jump is a Muslim)' in both halves. Lamine Yamal, a practising Muslim with clear Moroccan heritage, called the crowd ‘ignorant and racist’.
That's just one half of the story. The other half is the Moroccan government's ambitions to grow the game within their country. After trying and failing multiple times, the next edition is one they will play a significant role in: they are co-hosting with Portugal and Spain (Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina will stage one home game each to celebrate 100 years of the World Cup).
"Morocco’s footballing success is not an accident; it’s an intended outcome of government policy," Chadwick continues. "Partly, it is about projecting soft power and attaining global legitimacy. But it’s also about easing domestic tensions and ensuring that a sometimes-disparate population remains cohesive and doesn’t become a threat to the monarchy. The country also sees itself as a gateway to Africa – both into and out of the continent – with football serving as a proxy for power and influence. And there’s an element of Morocco reclaiming its history and asserting its identity, as it seeks to move out of the shadows of colonial influence."
In 2009, as part of a renewed focus on football by the government, the Mohammed VI Football Academy was born. Since then, the facility has given the country innumerable talents. When Morocco became the first African country to reach the last four of a World Cup in 2022, people at the Academy quietly celebrated as four of the players were from there. When the Atlas Lions beat Canada in the last 16, those same people celebrated.
One of their own, Azzedine Ounahi, had scored a brace. The continental giants are African champions — at least for the time being and have already featured in the last four of a World Cup — but make no mistake. Their game against France on Thursday afternoon will arguably be the biggest ever football match in their history.
