Now that the AFCON is over and Moroccan football fans have to wait again, God knows how many more years, to win a second title since their only cup in 1976, a serious question maybe needs to be asked: Should football fans in the kingdom stop fixating on AFCON?
Collective trauma
The chaotic way in which the 2025 AFCON final ended and how the Atlas Lions lost just added another nerve-wracking experience to the history of collective trauma Moroccan fans have with AFCON.
From the early exits in group stages, to losing the final in 2004 because of a grave mistake by former goalkeeper Khalid Fouhami, to Morocco stars Hakim Ziyech and Achraf Hakimi missing crucial penalties in 2019 and 2024, the final against Senegal brought another chapter to the horror generations of Moroccans have been experiencing with AFCON.
Brahim Diaz’s failed Panenka attempt to convert the last-minute penalty against Senegal has gone viral, even prompting some to speculate he missed it on purpose. But this idea of a purposeful miss can be easily debunked by the fact that the Real Madrid winger looked utterly devastated after Morocco’s loss.
In all cases, without being superstitious, the scene just commemorated what Moroccans feel about AFCON. This is a jinxed tournament for Moroccans. And no one that recalls or recognizes this fundamentally uneasy relationship between Moroccans and AFCON is being neither unreasonable nor pointing fingers – as so many other teams and their fans have deplorably done in recent days – at some supposed dark forces working against Morocco.
And so, even though the so many unfortunate failures were witnessed at this just concluded AFCON might have explanations that can soothe or reassure frustrated Moroccans, the reality remains the same: The Atlas Lions senior team just seems unable to win the continental tournament.
Now what?
As such, this failure begs the question: should we stop fixating on AFCON?
Even as Morocco hosted this year what many have unanimously crowned as the “best ever AFCON,” the fact remains that our team staff and players seemed unable to handle all the pressure put on them by the media and the fans.
All Moroccans were repeating the same thing. “This year we need to win it…it’s been 50 years since we won an AFCON…”. The numbers 50 and 1976 have haunted everyone, as if we’re talking about the fall of Granada and the end of Muslim rule in Spain.
Maybe we should remember that we’re not the only nation with a traumatic history with a certain football event. Holland lost the World Cup final 3 times. England never won a Euro and lost two finals in a row.
Before winning their first AFCON cup in 2022, Senegal had previously lost two finals. If we can continue reaching advanced stages in the tournament, maybe we can finally lift what many Moroccans jokingly see as a “curse.’’
Moving on
More football tournaments await the different Moroccan national football teams. While the AFCON loss tastes very bitter, it’s important to move on and close this chapter.
Fans and media will of course have to continue supporting the Atlas Lions and help the players regain confidence in themselves.
But the Moroccan Royal Football Federation has to make an honest assessment of the Atlas Lions’ performances since the 2022 World Cup, and try to answer the hard questions football commentators have been asking ever since, regarding some of the decisions of the team’s staff.
FRMF will also have to make bold decisions regarding the current Atlas Lions management, and whether this is the staff that can lead Morocco during the next World Cup and beyond.
One can’t deny that FRMF has done a tremendous job in recent years that was crowned by several titles and achievements on the continent and worldwide.
Inshallah these efforts will bear more fruits in the future with more titles and achievements that will hopefully, somehow, erase this AFCON’s painful memory and have Moroccan take again to the streets, joyfully chanting: “Dima Maghreb.”
