Morocco Set For Women's World Cup Debut in Another Landmark

FILE - The United States players hold the trophy as they celebrate winning the Women's World Cup final soccer match against The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France on July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
FILE - The United States players hold the trophy as they celebrate winning the Women's World Cup final soccer match against The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France on July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
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Morocco Set For Women's World Cup Debut in Another Landmark

FILE - The United States players hold the trophy as they celebrate winning the Women's World Cup final soccer match against The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France on July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
FILE - The United States players hold the trophy as they celebrate winning the Women's World Cup final soccer match against The Netherlands at the Stade de Lyon in Decines, outside Lyon, France on July 17, 2019. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

Months after the men's groundbreaking run to the semi-finals in Qatar, Morocco's women will make World Cup history of their own on Monday.

When the Atlas Lionesses face two-times former champions Germany in Melbourne they will be the first Arab team to play at a Women's World Cup.

It has not gone unnoticed in a country mad about football and still buzzing from what their men did at the Qatar World Cup in December.

"They will do just as well as the men," said 14-year-old Rabab Tougha after a training session at the football school of the local club in the Casablanca neighbourhood of Avadas, AFP reported.

It is her ambition to play the sport internationally, "especially after what the Atlas Lionesses have done".

Morocco's women enjoyed a surprise run to the final of last year's Africa Cup of Nations, which they hosted, before losing 2-1 to South Africa in front of over 50,000 spectators in Rabat.

That was followed by the men's remarkable performance in Qatar when they became the first African and first Arab team to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, where they lost to France.

Those performances have encouraged girls to take up football and the number of players registered at the Avadas academy -- for youths who often come from underprivileged families -- has increased to more than 50 from about 10 a year ago.

"The girls are motivated and want to learn how to play football" after seeing the success of the men's and women's national teams, coach Mohamed Jidi told AFP.

"We can see the impact. We had a girl who played rugby, others who played basketball or did athletics. But then they all wanted to start playing football because they decided there was a future in it."

Morocco are in Group H at the Women's World Cup and as well as Germany will face South Korea and Colombia.

They are one of the lowest-ranked teams in Australia and New Zealand and it would be a surprise if they get out of the group, but captain Ghizlane Chebbak knows the men have raised expectations.

"Moroccan fans have that passion, as do us players, and we will give everything to make them satisfied," she told FIFA.com.

"The men have shown us that nothing is impossible if you fight for it and you stay focused," she added.

That women's football is growing in popularity in Morocco is thanks to a development strategy put in place in 2020.

"The federation invested in women's football. Since then, mentalities have changed and the interest and evolution are palpable," Khadija Illa, president of the Moroccan women's league, told AFP.

In 2021, the North African kingdom set up a two-division professional women's league with 42 clubs, each of which committed to also launching teams at Under-17 and Under-15 level.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation picks up 70 percent of the expenses of each club, where players earn a minimum salary of 3,500 dirhams ($360) per month in the top flight and 2,500 dirhams in the second tier. The average monthly salary in Morocco is $400.

"Its success is reliant on a sporting policy that works and financial help." said Illa, a former professional player.

"The more you invest, the better results you get."



Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
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Man United Needs Near Perfect End to Season to Avoid its Worst Premier League Points Total


Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)
Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes during the English Premier League soccer match between Nottingham Forest and Manchester United at the City Ground, Nottingham, England, Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (Mike Egerton/P via AP)

Manchester United needs to win seven of its eight remaining Premier League games this season just to match its worst-ever points total in the modern era.

That's how bad it's got for the record 20-time English champion in a crisis-hit campaign.

“We have to get it right fast,” head coach Ruben Amorim said after Tuesday's 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

United’s lowest points total since the Premier League began in 1992 was 58 in the 2021-22 season. It is currently on 37, with 24 more points to play for, The AP news reported.

Seven wins would give Amorim’s team the 21 points needed to reach 58.

To put that in context, United has not won back-to-back games in the league all season. The last time it managed that was in the final two games of the previous campaign.

Amorim, meanwhile, has only won six and lost nine of his 19 league games since taking over in November. United has won 10 in total.

New lows The loss to Forest was United's 13th in the league this term. Last year's total of 14 defeats was the club's worst in the Premier League era.

Amorim said in January that this might be the worst team in United's history and things have only got worse since then.

While there is little danger this season of one of the world's most storied teams being relegated from the top flight for the first time since 1974, it will almost certainly hit new lows in the modern era.

United's lowest league position in the Premier League was the eighth-place finish overseen by former manager Erik ten Hag last year. It seems unlikely Amorim will be able to better that, with his team eight points below eighth-place Fulham.

Based on form, the likelier scenario is United finishes the season even lower than it already is, with Tottenham, Everton and West Ham all within touching distance.

Years of decline This season continues United's onfield decline since managerial great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after winning the club's last league title.

It was his and United's 13th championship of the first 20 years of the Premier League. The club hasn't won another since.

Its lowest finish in the Premier League under Ferguson was third.

Goal drought Among United's many problems this season have been a lack of goals. The Forest game was the 11th time it has failed to score in the league - prompting a desperate Amorim to play center back Harry Maguire in attack as he went in search of a late equalizer.

Maguire came closer than any of his teammates to scoring when seeing a stoppage time effort cleared off the line.

“We deserved more in this game, that is clear, but it was our fault. We need to be better in the last third," Amorim said.

Rasmus Hojlund, a striker signed from Atalanta for $82 million last season, has only scored eight goals in his 41 games in all competitions this term.

Strike partner Joshua Zirkzee has scored six in 45 appearances. United has scored 37 in the league all season with a goal difference of minus-4.

Amorim, however, insists he sees improvement.

“I don’t lie to myself," he said. "Everybody can say whatever they want to say, I see some things, but we need to win games.”