The first African team to make the World Cup semifinals wouldn’t be here without help from foreign-born players.
The biggest story of this year’s World Cup has been the incredible underdog run by Morocco, which will be the first African team to ever play in the semifinals of the globe’s biggest sporting event when the Atlas Lions kick off this afternoon against the defending champions from France.
« We are the Rocky Balboa of this World Cup, » Walid Regragui, the team’s French-born head coach, said after Morocco’s stunning upset of Portugal in the quarterfinals.
Even though events like the World Cup and the Olympics are often thought of as quirky celebrations of nationalism, Morocco’s run through this World Cup highlights the essential role that immigration plays in building strong nations—and strong national football teams.
In fact, more than half of the players on Morocco’s roster for the World Cup were born in other countries. That’s the highest percentage among all 32 teams that kicked off the tournament in Qatar last month, according to a breakdown by Quartz.
Without the contributions of those immigrants, it’s a near certainty that Morocco wouldn’t still be playing. Indeed, it was Achraf Hakimi who scored the game-winning penalty kick in Morocco’s shoot-out win against Spain; Hakimi was born in Madrid. Hakim Ziyech, whose outstanding play in the midfield was key to Morocco’s upsets against Portugal and Belgium (and who scored another penalty kick against Spain), was born in the Netherlands.
Did those foreign stars take football-playing jobs from native-born Moroccans? Sure. And is the country doing better as a result? Absolutely. And there’s probably a lesson there that goes beyond the soccer field.
Morocco might be ahead of the curve when it comes to relying on foreign-born talent for footballing success, but it is hardly alone.
