As the final whistle was blown by Argentine referee Facundo Tello at Al Thumama Stadium last Saturday, the majority of the 44,198 crowd that was chanting throughout, erupted into applause, along with the Moroccan players and officials who had just beaten Portugal to reach their first ever semi-final of the World Cup.
The way Morocco entered the scenario and dominated, and outplayed so many traditional elites, it does not look like any fluke or one-off success, instead the Atlas Lions are giving plenty of reasons to millions of football fans to expect the unthinkable.
This is the first time for any African or Arab team in the last four of the biggest stage of the game, and very rare for a side outside Europe and South America.
In the last 14 tournaments since 1970, where 56 teams have reached the semi-finals, there have been 38 representatives from Europe and 16 from Latin America.
That leaves only two places for non-elite teams – South Korea in 2002 at home and now Morocco in 2022 – in the semifinals, 3.5% of all semi-finalists in that period.
Morocco got huge support from their fans who came to Doha, and with their gradual progression in the tournament, the number became enormous, and this vibrant crowd is one of the reasons why the opponents - even if you are Belgium, Spain or Portugal – were under immense pressure.
Not only at the game sites, but also the people in deep red Moroccan jerseys are everywhere in Doha, sometimes outnumbering that of traditional giants Argentina and Brazil.
Even on a matchday, one can easily get the vibe of being somewhere in Casablanca, even though he or she is watching the game in the stadium, at Fifa Fan Zone in Corniche, or walking randomly in the streets of the 250-year old traditional market, Souq Waqif, in Doha.
Also Read: Six reasons why Morocco's triumph is no fluke
And now, the whole African and Arab world are cheering for the Atlas Lions, treating them as their own which may inspire Walid Regragui's men to attain further success as they are just two matches away from lifting the World Cup – something no one in this world imagined even a couple of weeks ago.
This has been a closely-fought World Cup, especially the group stage that saw a lot of upsets and till now all the previous World Cup winners had to taste defeat.
And then there is Morocco, who emerged as the group champions despite being pitted with giants like last edition's runners-up Croatia and currently the world's best team in Belgium.
Captain Romain Saiss led the way as Morocco not only stayed unbeaten alongside Croatia till date and their wins against the European powerhouses – Spain and Portugal – in the knockout stages did not come by chance, but was rather a result of wonderful team understanding and effective tactics being implemented successfully.
They have conceded only once in over 500 minutes of football in the tournament thus far and that too was an unfortunate deflection off Nayef Aguerd in a 2-1 win against Canada in the group stage.
Their tactics in defending set pieces against top teams and players have worked remarkably well.
Emotion played a big role in their progress as multiple scenes of the players, notably the Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi, celebrating with their mothers went viral and gave the team a morale boost and persistent mindset to put their bodies on the line and fight till the last breath.
As current world champions France await in the semi-final, the way they are playing especially against the European counterparts, it would not be surprising to see the Atlas Lions in the grand finale on the night of December 18.