A great day to be Moroccan: Thousands on London streets celebrate historic win
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Thousands of Moroccan fans held “euphoric” celebrations on the streets of London after the nation made history by beating Portugal to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
The 1-0 win in Qatar means Morocco has now gone further than any other African nation in a World Cup tournament.
Just minutes after full-time, videos posted to social media showed large crowds with Moroccan flags chanting as they marched along Edgware Road on Saturday evening, with some fans leaning out of cars beeping their horns.
Ahmad Zaki Mohammed, a 25-year-old software engineer, was among those celebrating and described the scenes as “euphoric”.
“It’s a great day to be Moroccan,” he told the PA news agency.
“This victory and the ones before mean a lot to me and my people.
“We’ve made history not just for Morocco but also Africa.”
“The celebrations in Edgware Road highlight how much this victory means to Morocco, it feels ecstatic and you can sense the happiness in the air… (it) has made this victory euphoric!”
We’ve made history not just for Morocco but also Africa
Mr Mohammed said the nation’s success at the World Cup will inspire its youth, adding: “If we’ve come this far then it’s possible to win!
“We’ve had it really hard this World Cup by going up against Belgium, Spain and Portugal, but thanks to Allah we’ve won every game.”
Harry Williamson, 26, lives in Paddington and walked past the celebrations in the UK capital and estimated there were thousands of people celebrating in Edgware Road alone.
“(It was) absolute madness but in a good way,” the architectural assistant told PA.
“It looked like people were heading down towards Marble Arch and presumably Piccadilly Circus on foot.
“Cars beeping everywhere, everyone having a good time with big smiles.
“It was all just impeccable vibes really – lovely to see.”
