Morocco carry hopes of Arab fans at 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup

Morocco’s men stole the hearts of Arabs and fans worldwide at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Now the North African nation’s women’s team will look to pull off a similar feat.

When on July 20 the FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand, the team will make further history with their first-ever appearance at this level.

The ninth edition of the tournament, which will run until Aug. 20, will be unique in that it will be the first time that it involves 32 teams. Additionally, it will be hosted in the southern hemisphere for the first time, with weather conditions expected to be cooler than would have been expected in the summer months of the northern hemisphere.

Morocco’s women are on the rise.

After beating Botswana in the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals, Morocco became the first-ever Arab nation to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Having secured their spot by reaching the last four in front of their own fans, they went on to beat Nigeria in the semifinals. Sadly, in front of a vociferous 51,000-strong crowd in Rabat on July 23, they fell just short of final glory by losing 2-1 to South Africa. Despite that disappointment, a second-place finish was an exceptional performance.

Now they will have to prove they can do it on the biggest stage of all.

Morocco have been drawn in a challenging group, against Germany on July 24 in Melbourne, South Korea on July 30 in Adelaide, and Colombia on Aug. 3 in Perth.

The journey to play in such exalted company is even more impressive when you take into account the Moroccan women’s team barely had any pedigree to speak of even a few years ago.

Their record consists of two group stage exits in 1998 and 2002, and had not even qualified for a