Anyone who watched the Men’s World Cup in Qatar last year will surely be hoping for the Moroccan women’s team to go one better and probably get their hands on the trophy. It is a women’s world after all, and many people will attest to the fact that women do things better than men. It gets even more plausible with the fact that both teams are playing their first World Cups, and the performance of the men’s team last year has surely set a standard for what could be. The women’s team are no slouches either, as they are showing the same level of tenacity and grit we saw on display in the men’s team last December. Morocco is sure to see a consequent rise in men’s and women’s football rankings by the time the next rankings, and it promises to be a hot topic for footballers and enthusiasts alike.

France will be playing Morocco at the Hindmarsh Stadium, and there is sure to be a sense of dejavu in the African nation and the world at large as this same fixture played out at the men’s World Cup, ending in a win for the European nation. The French women’s national team has some history in this competition, having reached the quarterfinal stage in this competition in the last two editions and placing fourth in the 2011 edition. Qualifying from Group F was an easy task for the Europeans, although it started with a stale draw with Jamaica. They then managed to overpower fellow favourites Brazil in their second group stage match and drubbed Panama 6-nil to place first in their group.

Meanwhile, Morocco started poorly in Group H, taking a 6-0 battering from Germany. They however managed a win over South Korea courtesy of a sixth-minute goal by Ibisaam Jriadi and then played out another close one-nil game against Colombia to qualify for the knockout stages. It was a moment of pure joy for the players and their backroom staff as they showed a lot of steel to get themselves over the line in their last two group-stage matches. However, fellow African teams Nigeria and South Africa have been knocked out of the competition by England and the Netherlands respectively. Nevertheless, they will be looking to fly the continent’s flag and go farther than expected, starting from the match against France. France are clear favourites, but cup competitions offer many shocks and surprises, and Morocco will want to offer more of that to match and possibly surpass the expectations on them. This match promises to be one of the highlights of the tournament and many fans will surely be tuned in to see how it pans out, me included.

While France will be looking to their Lyon players to help them get through the tie, Morocco know that they will need to play their best as a group to get anything out of the game, along with a little bit of luck. All these increase the match’s appeal, and many fans will be watching on with muted breaths.

Go, Africa!