Morocco Make History...AGAIN 🇲🇦

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It’s Thursday, August 3rd. Give us four minutes, we give you everything World Cup.

The incredible scenes emanating from Perth as Morocco clinched a Round of 16 appearance would move even the stoniest of hearts. From their hopeful prayers on field waiting for the Germany result to come in, to their celebratory response… this is the soul-gripping stuff that makes World Cups irreplaceable. SOUND UP to hear Arabic commentary reacting to the moment they knew Morocco were through, and WATCH THE ATLAS LIONESSES reacting in Perth.

I. Morocco make history, again 🇲🇦

Thursday evening in Perth, Australia, the Atlas Lionesses marked history with their name once more as they secured a seat in the 2023 World Cup’s Round of 16.

To acquire that place, a women’s program intentionally grown with investment, vision and care, had made history already: after placing second in last year’s WAFCON (falling to South Africa, who join them in the Round of 16 as two of three African nations) Morocco qualified for the first-ever Women’s World Cup. In so doing, they became the first majority-Arab nation, and the first North African nation to qualify for the World Cup. After placing second in Group H, they are now the first to reach the knockout stages.

That cascade of firsts made no intention of stopping at the pitch on arrival Down Under, for they tore into Group H with a ferocity, an identity, familiar and organized lines across the field, and talent within that refuses to go unnoticed. After recovering from a 6-0 loss to Germany, Morocco collected two consecutive wins, defeating South Korea 1-0 and then Colombia 1-0 on the final day. The Atlas Lionesses will meet France in Adelaide next to bout in the Round of 16, in a momentous tournament that grows more historic by the minute.

II. Germany knocked out of the World Cup 🇩🇪

There is perhaps no better way to end a World Cup group phase noted for the stumble of giants and indefatigable rise of new teams than for Germany to crash out in the group stage. And so it was Thursday evening in Australia: one last jolt of unpredictability before we head to the Round of 16.

After looking frightening early doors and defeating Morocco 6-0, Die Nationalelf lost to Colombia 2-1 (a Linda Caicedo golazo and stoppage time wonder spurred it forth) and drew South Korea 1-1 on the final day to halt their journey early. And while their frightening talent and historic prestige looked promising early, the two-time Champions ultimately stuttered to defeat.

In the aftermath, beyond the shocked devastations of elite, world-class talents (including Wolfsburg’s veteran striker Alexandra Popp and defensive midfielder Lena Oberdorf) a reckoning has already begun, with pundits alleging issues in coaching (a back three for what?), in structure, in matters material beyond the pitch.

With a global football landscape accelerating at light speed in the women’s game, Germany (the second most decorated international side beyond the US) is proof the USWNT are not alone in needing evolution while the world catches up.

III. Amid the noise, the US is finding joy 🇺🇸

Thursday in Auckland, USWNT co-captain Lindsey Horan and recently confirmed to be alive winger, Lynn Williams, addressed the media before departing for Melbourne, where they’ll meet Sweden this Sunday in the Round of 16.

Responding to questions about the state of the team, with clamoring media, fans, and former players criticizing their recent performance at a frantic pace, Lynn and Lindsey made clear that this team is confident, evolving, prepared for a challenge, and finding joy.

Gotham FC’s finest, Lynn Williams: “I think the key word you said was the outside world. We are not panicking. We have made it to the round of 16. I think that we haven't played our best soccer yet, which is the most exciting part for us. You know, we are a team that are going to battle and even when we haven't played our best soccer, I think we've only had one shot on goal. Unlucky for us it went in, but it's been one shot in three games. So yeah, that's the outside world, not us.”

William’s calm confidence was carried by co-captain Lindsey Horan as well, who believes the “pressure cooker” comes with the territory, adding that it’s a pressure they enjoy:

“We're playing for these big matches. We're playing for these big moments, these pressure cookers, and that's what we want to be a part of. And you know, us being the US national team, we're always going to have that.”

Horan added that a new tournament starts now, and while they’ll focus on “playing better”, they’ll also be looking for joy:

“it's a new tournament starting now, you know, it's the knockout stages. But it's just that confidence, the belief in ourself to you know, one, do what we are most special at, each of us individually but also as a team. And also just find the joy in it a little bit more. I think we were just talking about it's like, we love this game so much. We're so passionate about this game, we want to win, you know, as much as possible and we want to play better. We all know that. You guys know that. Our team knows that. We want to play better, and to find those little pieces of joy you know in the game as well.”

IV. News and Notes

1. Jonathan Tannenwald of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Lindsey Horan responds to Carli Lloyd’s criticism of the team 

2. From Henry Bushnell at Yahoo Sports: USWNT’s Problems Explained. An important deep-dive read.

3. Marta played in her final World Cup Wednesday evening in Melbourne. She delivered yet another emotional farewell after the match, and took time to speak with Bunny Shaw, passing the torch to the next generation. Last week, she wrote a moving note to the next generation: “To all my girls that love this game”, for the Players Tribune.

4. From The Guardian: How Lauren James rose to World Cup stardom

V. Parting Shots

CHANGE THE RULES FOR ROSE: Sammy Mewy and Rog discuss the second consecutive yellow card accrued by Rose Lavelle, nixing her from the Round of 16 test with Sweden.