Thirty-two years to the day since their first official encounter, Morocco and the Netherlands face each in what has the makings of a blockbuster last-32 match. Many things have changed since the 1994 World Cup group game in Orlando, which Netherlands won 2-1, but Morocco’s history is never far from the plot.
Take the venue for Monday’s encounter – Monterrey, where the Atlas Lions played most of their 1986 World Cup campaign, in the process becoming the first African team to progress through the group stage. So many in Morocco spy a golden opportunity for revenge and glory. And they would be right to do so given how four years ago, in Qatar, Morocco stunned the world by reaching the semi-finals, beating Belgium, Spain and Portugal in the process. They now have another European heavyweight firmly in their sights.
“It’s a shame two such great footballing nations meet this early in the knockout stage,” says Hassan Bahara, a Moroccan-Dutch author and journalist. “I’d have hoped they’d face each other later, after both had the chance to show the world what they’re capable of”.
Indeed, this is the only last-32 tie involving two teams who finished the group stage with seven points and who came into the tournament inside the top 10 of Fifa’s rankings. It is also Morocco’s second clash against genuine contenders for the trophy, after their Group C opener against Brazil, which ended 1-1. But if that game made for a fantastic sporting proposition, a meeting with Netherlands contains social and cultural aspects.
Many Moroccans moved to the Netherlands in the 1960s in pursuit of a better life. A couple of generations later, their children and grandchildren decided to represent Morocco on the biggest stage. “The street football that Dutch and Moroccan kids once played against each other in Amsterdam’s neighbourhoods has, in a sense, arrived on the world stage,” says Bahara. “That backstory gives this game a layer of meaning that simply would not exist against any other opponent.”
Morocco have three players who have lived this backstory. Noussair Mazraoui, Sofyan Amrabat and Anass Salah-Eddine were all born and raised in the Netherlands and signed up for the Atlas Lions at different stages of their careers: Amrabat at the Under-17 World Cup in 2013, Mazraoui at under-20 level and Salah-Eddine a couple of months before the most recent Africa Cup of Nations.
“The feeling is almost that of a derby,” says Jean-Paul Rison, a sports journalist based in Utrecht. “Ninety-nine percent of the people over here will be in total harmony. The only aspect I’m not looking forward to is how some people will fit this game into their agenda of hate.”
Bahara knows far too well the tensions this game might raise. “My concern is that certain right-wing media like De Telegraaf and far-right politicians like Geert Wilders will try to inflame tensions,” he says. “Wilders has wasted no time: he immediately started posting AI-generated images on social media designed to provoke the Moroccan community.” The hope is that these tensions will be forgotten come kick-off in Monterrey, with adrenaline and emotion instead contributing to a memorable World Cup tie.
Morocco have been a consistently good team during the past four years, winning this year’s Afcon, albeit belatedly and controversially, and have a strong scouting policy, along with a good local training programme, that unearths talented players on a regular basis, such as Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old midfielder who caught the eye against Brazil and has continued to shine at this World Cup. They fear no one and face the Netherlands in a uniquely interesting contest feeling they are genuine contenders for this summer’s biggest prize.
