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Doha The Morocco national football team is a maze of alleyways in the Moroccan city of Fez. As a visitor, you can find your way in, but hardly any get out. In the winding and very narrow streets of the medina’s souq, the bazaar of the old city, you will get confused as you squeeze your way through the hammering of artisans, the smells of spices and tanneries, and the pack donkeys. So far in the World Cup in Qatar, opponents have had a similar experience when they have tried to break through the Moroccan defence. Either they don’t make it in the first place or if they do, they get lost there and end up in an impasse.

See you this Saturday (4 PM/ZDF & Magenta TV) Morocco World Cup quarter finals portugal, For the North African country, it is the biggest game ever played on the world stage of football. They have already become the best Arab team in World Cup history after a sensational entry into the last eight thanks to a 3-0 penalty shoot-out win against Spain. They want to be the best team in Africa now. Prior to that, only three teams from the continent had made it to the quarter-finals in a World Cup. Cameroon was followed at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Senegal at tournaments in Japan and South Korea in 2002, and Ghana in South Africa in 2010. However, no team from Africa could reach the semi-finals. So Morocco could make history again at this World Cup in Qatar, continuing their already special story, which resembles a fairy tale.

Morocco with a special team spirit

Coach Walid Regragui (47) took charge of the team in August and has instilled a special team spirit. They immediately re-joined Hakim Ziyech, the striker of Chelsea and currently the best kicker in Morocco, and left-back Noussair Mazrouei from Bayern Munich. Both were angry with the previous Moroccan national coach, the Bosnian Vahid Halilhojic. Furthermore, Regaragui laid the foundation for a new solidarity by putting an end to the debate about the origins of the national team. Twelve of them were born in Morocco. Goalkeeper Yassin Bouno, better known as Bono, was born in Canada. The other 13 squads are in Europe, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. Many have two passports. But Regaragui, himself born and raised near Paris, contests the debate of such identity, saying that he himself is the best example of the fruitful influences of different cultures. “No one can take my Moroccan heart from me,” he says, “It’s not about the passport, it’s about the ability.”

The team stood first in the group. Against 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia, and Belgium, against whom Morocco won 2–0. In the Round of 16 against Spain, Regargui’s almost perfectly organized defense kept a clean sheet, as they did throughout the tournament. None of the previous four opponents had scored against Morocco. He scored the only goal in a 2–1 win against Canada, an own goal. Regargui is already Africa’s most successful World Cup coach by reaching the quarter-finals.

so now portugal, that’s in the round of 16 with 6:1 against Switzerland To a large extent open without cristiano ronaldo Will happen. Nevertheless, Moroccans are looking forward to their next coup, due to their excellent defense. However, both centre-backs, Beşiktaş captain Romain Sass and West Ham United’s Nayef Aguirre, went off injured after the win against Spain. Together with right-backs Achraf Hakimi, formerly at Borussia Dortmund and now at Paris Saint-Germain, and Mazrouei, they form the best defensive line ever at the World Cup. Whether he can play against Portugal in this constellation is an open question.

Fiorentina’s Amrabat is different

AC Fiorentina’s 26-year-old defensive midfielder Sofiane Amarbat is particularly important. Only six with the number four and the striking bald head born and raised in the Netherlands has so far impressed with his immense running prowess and commitment. Several top clubs are said to be interested in Amarabat, including Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool FC. It is said that a deal has already been done with him. Against Spain, Amarabat toppled for two in front of the back line, as he did in all four games throughout the season. Not only that he is always there when danger threatens. He also manages to get into the game and start counterattacks through other technically skilled and agile wingers Ziyech or Sofia Boufal.

That’s how they imagine it again against Portugal now. Many of the more than 1.5 billion people in the Arab region and Africa who are now representing Morocco at the World Cup are adamant that something will happen with the next, even bigger, coup. And in the rest of the world, especially in Europe, this downtrodden, this wretched outsider has many admirers. Like the souq with its maze of streets in the medina of Fez.