(cover photo from https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/soccer/news/fifa-world-cup-2030-hosts-countries-centenary-tournament/2f72d6fc7f546f006572deb6)
What should have been a showcase of Africa’s two top sides and the culmination of a stellar hosting job by Morocco, has been marred by chaos.
The 2025 rendition of AFCON came as an opportunity for Morocco to flex their wealth and show their hand in their home tournament before they host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal, and flex their wealth they did.
All six of the cities who hosted games at AFCON are candidates for the World Cup, all with excellent facilities that clearly held up well over the month period of AFCON. The high speed Al-Boraq rail service from Rabat to Tangier is only getting longer, growing into Marrakech, and of course the small matter of a 115,000 seater stadium in Casablanca now being in the works.
These few points show Morocco is ready. But are they really ready?
AFCON was near perfect. Potentially the most scrutinised international tournament due to the time of year it occurs, the refereeing issues such as blowing for full time on the 85th minute, and much much more. Yet this rendition seemed to be flowing smoothly.
Until Nigeria faced Morocco in the semi-final.
Nigeria’s goalkeeper Stanley Nwabili seemed to be in a never-ending war with the home support, substitutes, and officials who would steal his towel. While there has been worse actions to have occurred on a football pitch, it showcased a clear lack of sportsmanship, and only give us the slightest glimpse into what would be facing Senegal in the final.
Ball boys, flag bearer’s, substitutes and officials all surrounding Edouard Mendy’s goal, creating such a scene that saw substitute keeper Yevhann Diouf rugby tackled onto the ground for Mendy’s towel.
Immediately the question comes to mind of how will a World Cup play out if these conditions continue. Now of course, the final has two teams and Senegal are not the good guys either. CAF regulations state that if a team ‘refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered the loser‘.
It is incidents like this which lead to the rest of the footballing world to look down on AFCON and the idea of an African nation hosting footballs biggest tournament.
AFCON 2025 was Morocco’s chance to reset the narrative many have of African football. Instead, it magnified every fault irrelevant of size. Opposing teams complained of hostile stadium atmospheres, inadequate treatment and subtle advantages tilted toward the hosts.
Refereeing decisions, particularly in knockout matches, were scrutinised with intensity, leading social media users reviving a familiar accusation: MAROCCAF.
Fair or not, perception mattered more than evidence. By the time we reached the final, Morocco had stopped being just the host, they had become the villain in their own story and had lost the favouritism the won after their 2022 World Cup heroics.
However, for Infantino and FIFA, Sunday night’s events did not ruin the otherwise perfect tournament. The preceding four weeks had shown Morocco’s advancements over the past ten years in terms of organisation, transportation, and lodging, branding them as “exceptional hosts”.
While scrutiny is deserved for the on-pitch incidents and the fighting between police officials and the Senegalese people, it is something we have seen many times before large scale tournaments. Argentina and Colombia’s game at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami saw major disruptions, in a stadium that will host seven games at this summers World Cup, yet it was not nearly as publicised as this past-weekends incidents.
Morocco hosting the World Cup has so many more positives than it does negatives, not only for the nation but for the continent. It gives the world a chance to see the vibrancy and passion for football in Africa for the first time since 2010 in South Africa- giving the world a break from the new-normal in over commercialised, money-focused World Cups.
