FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — There are a lot of connections and familiarity on the field for the World Cup quarterfinal match between France and Morocco.
France beat Morocco in the semifinals at the 2022 tournament in Qatar when the Atlas Lions became the first African team to make it that far. France is looking to remain on track to become only the third nation to play in the final of three consecutive World Cups.
But it's much more than that.
As much Morocco
wants to pull an upset over the favored Les Bleus on Thursday, the team has plenty of ties to the opposing country.
Six Moroccan players — Ayyoub Bouaddi (Senlis), Issa Diop (Toulouse), Neil El Aynaoui (Nancy), Redouane Halhal (Montpellier), Samir El Mourabet (Strausbourg) and Gessime Yassine (Salon-de-Provence) — were born on French soil.
In addition, out of the 26 players on Morocco’s squad for the World Cup, 19 were born outside that country.
Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said it's helped broaden the country's World Cup support.
“We have a huge fan base internationally speaking, and we’re really proud of this. There are Moroccan fans around the entire world, whether European or the diaspora or the international Moroccans, they are behind us," he said. "They are supporting us. We feel the energy, the positive dynamic they created for us. … In the difficult moments, we should think about those people, that we're not alone. We’re fighting for an entire nation, a country, and that has helped us get more.”
The links also extend to club play, with France captain Kylian Mbappé and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni both playing for Real Madrid alongside Morocco midfielder Brahim Diaz.
Diaz, who has already played a big part in getting Morocco this far with a team-high four assists, said it's added even more dimension to a matchup that also carries much weight.
"They are my teammates on Real Madrid. They are brilliant players. Are brilliant persons," Diaz said. "But (today) we are rivals. We both want to win and this is the most important interest — my team.”
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