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After a hard-fought semifinal encounter, both teams shared embraces and showed the true spirit of football which aims to unite rather than divide
France and Morocco have a long history of collaboration, and although they were enemies on the pitch for 90 minutes in the World Cup semifinal, both sides showed camaraderie after the game that few other matches have had at the World Cup.
A number of Moroccan players either currently play or have previously played in the French Ligue 1, and some of them were born and grew up in France, so the hugs and long exchanges at the final whistle were not unusual since some players from the opposing sides were either current or former teammates.
Mbappe, Hakimi and other teammates on both sides
No players epitomised the friendliness between the two teams more than France’s Kylian Mbappe and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi. The Paris Saint-Germain teammates shared a long embrace, exchanged jerseys, and were pictured together talking in the tunnel after the match.
But this is nothing new since both players share a very public friendship and constantly send each other congratulatory messages on Twitter, even during the World Cup.
Other teammates who turned out against each other include Bayern Munich’s Moroccan fullback, Noussair Mazraoui, who faced his colleagues including Benjamin Pavard, Lucas Hernandez, Dayot Upamecano, and Kingsley Coman.
Moroccan defender Nayef Aguerd also famously told his West Ham teammate Alphonse Areola that they would meet in the semi-final or final and would have been delighted to see that dream come true.
Many Old Friends
It was not only players who reunited with friends on the pitch during the semifinal.
Morocco’s now-legendary coach Walid Regragui was seen fervently embracing France’s all-time top scorer Olivier Giroud after the final whistle, and their friendship dates back to Regragui’s playing days, when he was briefly teammates with Giroud at Grenoble.
Moroccan revelation, Azzedine Ounahi, also shared a long postgame conversation with French midfielder Youssof Fofana, as they probably reminisced on old days, since both players are familiar with each other having graduated from French club Strasbourg’s academy.
The on-pitch bromance after a World Cup semifinal was a sight for sore eyes, given the competitive nature of football, which can sometimes cause brief opponents to become lifelong enemies.
It was especially enjoyable given the show of shame that followed the Netherlands' loss to Argentina in the quarterfinals.
It was refreshing to see that the game still had teams who wanted to share their love for each other in the true spirit of football, which aims to unite rather than divide.
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