Arab football is the winner in a truly global game

And so the dust begins to settle, and the analysis begins. Looking back, Morocco’s opening match at the very first World Cup to be held in the Arab world did not live long in the memory. A goalless draw with Croatia hardly captured the attention of the football world and a fair few observers would have written off the Atlas Lions’ chances of getting out of their group — especially as their next match was against Belgium, a country ranked by FIFA as second in the world behind Brazil.

However, not only did they progress (unlike the Belgians), they topped their group and went further in the tournament than Brazil and Germany, who between them had previously won nine World Cups. It was truly remarkable. By becoming the first-ever Arab nation to reach the quarterfinals and then the semifinals, they also eclipsed the previous achievement of any side from the African continent.

Only three African sides —Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 — had reached the last eight, so this was not only unprecedented but also a fully-merited achievement. In their first five matches they conceded only a single goal, an unlucky deflection off Nayef Aguerd in their 2-1 win over Canada; none of the other seven quarterfinalists could point to such a strong defensive record, all letting in at least two. In the last 16 they saw off Spain who had been responsible for the biggest win in Qatar, a 7-0 thrashing of Costa Rica; then in the quarterfinals they dispatched another European giant, Portugal, who had just beaten Switzerland 6-1 in the previous round.  There was something fitting about their efforts given the location.