There is no more migrant team in Qatar than the amazing Morocco.
Fourteen of his 26 called up were born outside the African country, a record among the participants in the World Cup.
The Diaspora Football Club has strengthened ties to the point of flying like nobody expected.
And it goes from record to record.
They are not only the first team from their continent to reach the level of the semifinals.
It is the third non-European or South American team to achieve it in 21 editions, after the United States in 1930 and South Korea in 2002. There is more: since the German tournament in 2006, when Italy reached the semifinals with a single goal against (from United States in the group stage) no one had armored themselves in the same way.
To add to the astonishment, the only goal conceded by Walid Regragui's team was unintentional, since Aguerd scored it at his own goal.
Indeed,
In the three friendlies before Qatar 2022, already with Regragui in charge since September, Chile, Paraguay and Georgia did not beat those of the Atlas either.
In this selection one has been eleven and eleven have been one.
The attachment to the land of the ancestors has exalted the most global Morocco in its sixth participation.
Soccer requires perspective.
And the Moroccan success is likely to be temporary, the occasional fruit of a series of factors.
Some good players to whom the future of the championship has multiplied their faith and their self-esteem.
This Morocco refers to the impervious Greece of 2004, surprising champion in the European Championship in Portugal, in which they only conceded four goals, and all in the group stage.
Or semifinalist Turkey in 2002, or quarterfinalist Cameroon in 1990.
Nothing presaged the Moroccan takeoff after the schism with Vahid Halilhodzic, fired as coach on August 11.
The Bosnian did not reconcile with Ziyech, one of the stars, whom he accused of cheating with false injuries.
"I would not summon him even if he were Messi," he came to say.
The one from Chelsea won the pulse.
Like 13 other comrades, Ziyech was born outside of Morocco, where he never played.
He did it 29 years ago in Dronten, a municipality in the Dutch province of Flevoland uprooted from the sea in the early 1960s. After a stint at Heerenven and Twente, he trained at one of the best schools in Europe, Ajax.
He emerged strongly and the powerful Chelsea recruited him in 2020. The skilful winger, who already has 47 international caps, opted for the Morocco team due to parental pull.
Like Ziyech, Mazraoui, a winger with great projection, has been cradled in the Ajax fishing grounds since he was 10 years old.
Born in Leiderdorp, the Netherlands, he is 25 years old, has been capped 18 times and has a record with Bayern Munich.
Achraf, like Ziyech and Mazraoui, also graduated from a legendary academy, Real Madrid.
Born 24 years ago in Madrid, he came to Valdebebas from the Colonia Ofigevi Sports Club (Housing Management Office), a team from the Juan de la Cierva neighborhood in Getafe.
From Madrid he flew to Borussia Dortmund, Inter and PSG.
A run for one of the best full-backs today, popular for football and for his relationship with the Madrid actress Hiba Abouk, Fátima in the series
El Príncipe
.
The effervescent and multitudinous Moroccan fans adores him.
He was always clear that his selection was that of his parents and grandparents.
Boufal, the spicy Moroccan winger, 36 internationals, did ask for time to choose between France and Morocco.
The former Celta player was born in Paris 29 years ago.
He plays for Angers, bottom club in Ligue 1. Curious, a bottom club on the rise in this World Cup.
Ounahi, the phenomenal midfielder born in Casablanca 22 years ago, also lines up at Angers.
The other great Moroccan sensation has been Sofyan Amrabat, brother of Nordin, former player of Málaga and Leganés, another of Dutch origin (Huizen, 26 years old).
Fiorentina auction off a player with seven lungs and 44 caps in a big way.
The case of En-Nesyri, 53 games already with Morocco, threads with that of Ounahi.
The Sevilla player, born in Fez 25 years ago, also attended the Mohamed VI Academy created by Moroccan royalty in 2009, based in Salé, north of Rabat.
The regime wanted to give a boost to a football that had only made a great summit in the 1976 African Cup. The academy has a quota of fifty players between the ages of 13 and 18 who go through a selection process.
It has scouts in Morocco, Spain, Belgium and France.
Mohamed VI receives money if the player reaches the elite.
For example, En-Nesyri, who continued his training in Malaga, consolidated in Leganés and moved up to Sevilla.
Bono, born in Montreal 31 years ago, and El Yamiq (Jouribga, Morocco, 30 years old) also arrived in Spain.
The goalkeeper came to Spanish football from Wydad Casablanca in 2012. His destination was Atlético B, a step prior to his journey through Zaragoza, Atlético Absolut, Girona and Sevilla.
Capital in the Moroccan success, he has already completed 50 meetings with his Morocco.
El Yamiq, Valladolid player, 25.
The Yamiq competes as center back with Saiss, the captain, who came into the world in Bourg de Peage, in the French district of Valence 32 years ago.
He never played in Morocco, whose team has recruited him 69 times.
He professional in the French League, in the Premier and, now, in the Turkish (Besiktas).
In Regragui's diverse basket there are footballers from 10 leagues: Qatari, Belgian, Italian, French, Spanish, English, Turkish, German and Saudi, as well as Moroccan.
The team gets along wonderfully even with Second Division players (Cheddira, Bari; Zaroury, Burnley).
And with only three from the local League, all from Wydad Casablanca.
The third goalkeeper, Tagnaouti, unprecedented in Qatar;
Jabrane, who has played 13 minutes;
and Alleh, 181. Everyone, from here and there, has sealed the most impressive team in the World Cup.
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