Moroccans wildly celebrating their team’s historic World Cup knockout victory over Spain yesterday were joined by people across the Middle East and North Africa ecstatic at what they saw as a victory for the entire Arab world.
Meanwhile, in Bahrain, joyous Moroccan fans celebrated across the kingdom.
From Baghdad to Casablanca, fans cheered as Morocco became the first Arabic-speaking country to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
In Rabat, where fans had crowded cafes for hours beforehand to watch the game, people jammed downtown roads leading to a square where fans had partied after previous Morocco victories, flags waving from their windows and horns furiously sounding.
Cheers also went up in Cairo, Beirut, Tunis, Amman, Ramallah as Arabs rejoiced at the largely unexpected win over highly fancied Spain. It echoed the pan-Arab pride that has surfaced during several memorable performances by Arab sides at the World Cup.
Morocco caused another World Cup upset by knocking out Spain on penalties 3-0, after the game had finished goalless after 120 minutes, to make it into the quarter finals
— Gulf Daily News (@GDNonline) December 6, 2022
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