They are the most beautiful pictures that this World Cup in Qatar has sent out into the world, it is already said on the Internet: the Moroccans kissing their mothers, dancing around them, hugging them. In Europe it’s mostly the players’ wives who draw attention, in Qatar it’s the mothers. After their victories, and there have been quite a few of them in recent weeks, the Moroccan players rush to their mothers, they climb onto the stands, get a kiss and give it a smack on the forehead or even directly on the mouth.
In particular, the image of Achraf Hakimi’s mother, who bravely grabs her son’s face and kisses him on the cheek, went viral after the game against Belgium. The 24-year-old posted it a short time later on his Instagram page, in Arabic: “I love you, mom.” 3.5 million likes.
Then, after the win against Portugal, it was midfielder Sofiane Boufal, like he did with his mother Dancing hand in hand on the field. In the meantime, after the final whistle, you are almost waiting for these mother-son scenes. What is this Moroccan motherly love all about?
The Moroccan sports website Hesport has already revealed the secret for itself: “The good intentions and the prayers of the parents – purely Moroccan recipes, cooked by the ‘boss’ Walid (Regragui, Morocco national coach, ed.) – changed the tactics of Moroccan football.” The Qatari sports channel Alkass is also certain: “The satisfaction of the parents is the secret of the brilliance of the Regragui team.” In addition, an original sound from the trainer is faded in, which – of course – begins with a greeting to his mother: “Look, everything comes with the blessing of the parents,” says Regragui and points upwards. Therefore one should take care of one’s mothers and fathers. “Do good and God will not fail you.”
The evergreens of Islamic motherly love are circulating on the Arabic Internet, especially prominent traditions of the Prophet Mohammed, such as: “Paradise lies under the feet of mothers,” or the classic that Muslim mothers like to quote when the children are cheeky. A man is said to have asked the Prophet Muhammad: “Who has the most right to my good manners?” The Prophet replied, “Your mother.” The man asked, “Who next?” The Prophet said again, “After that, your mother.” The man further asked: “And who after that?” And again the Prophet replied: “After that your mother.” The man asked again, “Who next?” Then the Prophet said: “After that your father.”
In the Arab media, too, hardly anyone is interested in the fathers. Instead, the players’ mothers are interviewed. In an interview with the Moroccan television station Arriyadia, coach Regragui’s mother told Arriyadia that she was traveling with them for the first time. “I was never there, either as a player or as a coach. I came to Qatar from Paris to support him.” Indeed, ahead of the World Cup, Regragui and the President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, are said to have decided that the players’ families were entitled to an all-inclusive trip to Qatar. The Wyndham Doha West Bay Hotel, which houses the players and their families, “occasionally feels like a delightful parent-run summer camp,” writes Aljazeera author Maher Mezahi.
These days, the mothers not only share accommodation, they also have a similar biography: it was often hard-working women, some of them single parents, who raised their children in Europe. Achraf Hakimi’s hands-on mother used to clean houses in Madrid, while his father worked as a street vendor. In an interview, the 24-year-old said that he came from a modest family that “had problems making ends meet”. Boufal’s dancing mother, Zoubida Belmoulat, worked as a cleaning lady in Paris and raised her two children alone. His mother refers to Boufal as “rock”.
When Hakim Ziyech, who plays a key role in the national team as a returnee, switched from Ajax Amsterdam to Chelsea for 40 million euros in the summer of 2020, his mother sent him a video message in Arabic, wishing him every success in London. In the video, Ziyech, who grew up in the Netherlands, sits in an empty cinema hall with tears in his eyes. His mother is “a proud woman” who had a “hard life,” he says in Dutch. She came to the Netherlands at a very young age, raised nine children there and lost her husband far too young. “I do it because I love it, but it’s all for her,” he concludes.
