The Atlas Lions of Morocco clashed with the Les Bleus of France on Wednesday, December 14, at the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar in the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup.
France beat Morocco to 2-0 to set a compelling match against Argentina in the finals of the World Cup.
Already, the Moroccan team has made history by becoming the first African and Arab nation to reach the semi-finals stage of a World Cup tournament when they scored against Portugal in the quarter-finals.
Prior to their defeat by the French side last night, US President Joe Biden joined other world leaders and fans to commend and praise the Atlas Lions for their impressive performance.
Joe Biden in his post on Twitter said “it was remarkable to watch how much this team has been able to achieve”.
It was a great honor to watch today’s World Cup match alongside Prime Minister Akhannouch of Morocco.
No matter who you’re rooting for, it was remarkable to watch how much this team has been able to achieve. pic.twitter.com/5kC4zkT1HQ
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 14, 2022
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI led fans in showing gratitude to their team after the game with a thank you tweet.
Thank you Lions
pic.twitter.com/8xY6nrAfpu
— TheMoroccanMonarchy (@M_RoyalFamily) December 14, 2022
French President Emmanuel Macron also praised the Moroccan team for their history-making run at the World Cup.
À nos amis marocains : félicitations pour ce beau parcours. Vous marquez l’histoire du football. pic.twitter.com/lupE7pgq0z
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 14, 2022
Translation:
“To our Moroccan friends: congratulations on this beautiful journey. You are making football history,” he tweeted.
Paris Saint-Germain forward, Kylian Mbappe, however, showed support to his club teammate and Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi.
The French striker said “don’t be sad bro, everybody is proud of what you did, you made history”.
Don’t be sad bro, everybody is proud of what you did, you made history.
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) December 14, 2022
Other football fans on Twitter have also shown their love for the Moroccan team.
Morocco, you’ve won the hearts of the world, and your humbleness before your Creator was witnessed by all.#Morocco #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/jT32cD8DpX
— Yusuf / Cat Stevens (@YusufCatStevens) December 14, 2022
An unforgettable run. Thank you for the memories, Morocco
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 14, 2022
First African team in the semifinals
Morocco’s historic run comes to an end, but what a run it was
pic.twitter.com/hRImgc2ZjM
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 14, 2022
sorry but this is the cutest
#MoroccoVsFrance pic.twitter.com/ZepSlZWuaq
— Yaser Jilani (@yaserjilani) December 15, 2022
Morocco
fans applauded their team for a good show all tournament.
Big achievement to be the first African team to make a World Cup semi final.
— George Addo Jnr (@addojunr) December 14, 2022
Congrats to this incredible group for the unbelievable, historial World Cup they had!
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 14, 2022
Morocco has won the hearts of the ummah. Allahu Akbar.
pic.twitter.com/Jb9hPIyUpU
— Muslim (@Muslim) December 14, 2022
Morocco’s World Cup journey is gone but not forgotten. The Pride of Africa became the Joy of the World. KO’d Spain and Portugal. Pushed the reigning champs all the way. The impossible dream won’t be achieved, but the feeling they’ve created is beyond anyone’s imagination
pic.twitter.com/xa4zCaZMqw
— VERSUS (@vsrsus) December 14, 2022
Even at loss, we thank Allah always. If it works, “Alhamdulillah”, if it doesn’t “Alhamdulillah”.#MoroccoVsFrance pic.twitter.com/OlA4dmb6OV
— • (@Al__Quraan) December 14, 2022
Mohamed Berrada, a local sports reporter, said: “Very proud of my country, very proud of the team. Unfortunately, we lost our captain in the first 20 minutes. I’m disappointed but proud.”
Adil, a French-Moroccan who supports the African side because he was born there said: “Always Morocco, we never give up, never. We had the best team, best played. They played better than the French.”
Meanwhile, the Morocco team is expected to play their last World Cup match on Saturday against Croatia in the third-fourth place play-off.
