Imlisanen Jamir
For a little bit, it’s fun to imagine a world where everyone can hold their nation’s flag with pride over something as silly as putting a ball in the goal, and we can all share in the surprise and exultation of an unexpected victory together.
There is a university friend of mine named Jafar from Tangiers, with whom at first I had no real connection with. Until we figured out our mutual love for football. This is a familiar story—the power of sport to transcend boundaries, yadda yadda—but it’s familiar because it’s so often true. From then on, we’ve communicated often across the oceans and continents, almost always about football, bantering each other whenever Arsenal beat Liverpool and vice versa.
And so I can’t think of this Morocco team—shockingly, amazingly in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup—without thinking of Jafar. He got everything he wanted. Morocco has played fantastic team defense, yet retained enough attacking edge to worry any opponent.
At the beginning of the tournament I said the World Cup was pretty good at its job. How it consistently selects what’s probably the best teams in the world. How it’s nice to know that this project isn’t completely random. But the counterpoint is that’s boring as heck.
Only eight nations have won the men’s World Cup in its history. Just five other national teams have even been runners-up, across 21 tournaments. So densely concentrated are the championships in South America and Western Europe that every single World Cup-winning nation borders another winner.
Senegal and Portugal, Croatia and Australia, the U.S. and Wales all featured numerous players born overseas in their World Cup squads, but no one in this World Cup has a higher percentage than Morocco. Ziyech, Amrabat, and left back Noussair Mazraoui were born in the Netherlands; Saïss and Sofiane Boufal in France; Hakimi in Spain; others in Belgium and Italy. These are countries with some of the top leagues, and more importantly, the best youth development systems in the world. They provided these children of immigrants with opportunities they may not have found in their parents’ home. The reverse diaspora back to the national team of their families gave them, and the Moroccan team, a chance to make history.
Qatar (and Russia, for that matter) was the wrong choice specifically, but the notion of sending the World Cup to new places, of seeding the creation of atmospheres like the one we saw on Saturday for nations like Morocco, of bringing it closer to fans like Jafar, so he has something to root for other than giant European clubs, is a worthy one. The tournament belongs to everyone, not just Europe and the Americas.
People love to root for the underdog — not just to see the powerful humbled and not just to experience the joy of the unexpected. This year, more than ever, it’s important to see that anyone can win. For a moment, the world can seem fair, like anyone from anywhere has a chance to succeed, to thrive, to have their dreams come true.
In a time marked by great loss, the thrill of watching players and peoples claim victory under extraordinary circumstances can be uplifting — a cure for the pessimism of an uncertain world. Even those who are rooting for teams that have been eliminated can find delight in Croatia and Morocco taking their place among the best our planet has to offer.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
