The tense game in Qatar — the competition’s first Middle Eastern host — culminated in a penalty kick shootout. Nervous fans covered their eyes and held their breath as Morocco notched a 3-0 lead, ousting former World Cup champion Spain on Tuesday night.
Morocco’s star player, Achraf Hakimi, who was born in Madrid, shot the final goal into the back of the net, eliciting an earthquake of thunderous cheers at the Education City Stadium in Doha.
In European capitals, crowds also erupted with delight at the win.
Sanae Touhtouh, a 28-year-old Moroccan who works at a cafe in London, looked on with pride as people poured into the street. Jordanian, Palestinian and Lebanese colleagues also watched the game, and “everyone was celebrating,” she told The Washington Post early Wednesday. “You feel that you are sharing one joy.”
“It’s a really beautiful feeling to see your country become the first Arab nation to make it,” she added. “I was so happy, and I’m still happy. I can’t describe it.”
On Edgware Road, an Arab commercial hub in London, people wrapped in Moroccan and Amazigh, or Berber, flags ululated with joy and honked car horns after the game.
Ali Eleneez, a shopkeeper from Iraq, said he felt a sense of kinship watching alongside Moroccan friends and other fans.
“The Moroccan team made us proud. They made Arabs proud in general,” he said. “Despite any differences and despite everything, football brought people together. Honestly, it was more fantastic.”
Krystle Barry, a British Egyptian waitress, agreed. “It’s an out-of-the-ordinary joy,” she said. “We’re backing Morocco of course. … People from different countries are so happy, it’s as if we won.”
“It’s been a really nice atmosphere, and when Morocco won, people went wild,” said Mona Hamze, whose family owns a Lebanese restaurant. They gave out candy to celebrate, she added.
In France, people from the Moroccan diaspora and soccer enthusiasts descended on city streets, including Paris’s renowned Champs-Élysées, on Tuesday night. The sounds of dancing and singing rang out in city centers. Videos on social media showed fireworks in the skies of Strasbourg, Rennes and Montpellier.
Local officials and media said there were a few disturbances during celebrations in Nice and Lille but no reports of major damage.
The victory also took on a geopolitical dimension.
Some tweeted that Morocco’s players had “crushed the colonial supremacy of Spain,” the country’s former colonizer along with France, while others quipped about a return of “al-Andalus,” the Arabic term for the Muslim-ruled Iberian Peninsula centuries ago.
Today, Spain is home to hundreds of thousands of Moroccans. After the game, fans filled the streets of Barcelona and other cities waving flags and setting off flares.
“Today’s win is extra special for Moroccans in Spain — who are forever ‘immigrants’ despite their status as Spaniards,” tweeted Arab American social commentator and law professor Khaled Beydoun. He hailed the win as a “revolutionary rebuttal” for “marginalized” people across the world.
Beydoun, who said he watched the game live in Doha, told The Washington Post that a “residue of colonial rulership” still exists between the two nations off the pitch, which can be apparent for many immigrant Diasporas in Europe.
But he also said he feared the win could spark trouble in some quarters of Europe where populism is on the rise, furthering the “narrative that Moroccans aren’t bona fide Spaniards” as a result of their “affinity to their ancestral homeland when it comes to sport.”
As Morocco’s victory reverberated around Europe, it also sparked a display of Arab solidarity, as people from Beirut to Gaza rallied around the Moroccan win.
On social media, many shared videos of the final goal that brought viewers to their feet in refugee camps in northern Syria and in crowds watching from Riyadh and Yemen. They clapped as Morocco’s players rushed to kiss their mothers in the stands, performed a gratitude bow of Muslim prayer on the pitch, and waved a Palestinian flag.
Leaders in the region also shared their excitement.
“Congratulations to the Atlas lions, you delighted us. Wow Morocco, you did it again!” tweeted Jordan’s Queen Rania.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah sent his “warmest congratulations to the brotherly Moroccan people.” Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, watched the game live, waving a Moroccan flag as people flooded downtown Doha to celebrate.
On the streets of Rabat and Casablanca, fans cheered and blocked central squares, while Moroccan King Mohammed VI extended his “heartfelt congratulations” to the players for their “historic” win.
Morocco is now the last African team in the international tournament. Once the euphoria subsides, it will take on another soccer heavyweight, Portugal, on Saturday.
Annabelle Timsit contributed to this report.
