Published On 23/10/2025
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Last update: 00:20 (Mecca time)
At the Ambassadors Gate, the procession of Moroccan football ambassadors met large crowds who gathered in the thousands along Mohammed V Avenue to celebrate with the world champions, after they left the Royal Palace in Rabat.
On Wednesday, the capital, Rabat, was covered in red and green, as the streets were decorated with national flags, and chants and chants rose in celebration of the historic achievement achieved by the Moroccan under-20 team on Sunday, October 19.
The Atlas Cubs were crowned champions of the 2025 FIFA Youth World Cup, after defeating the Argentine national team with a score of (2-0) in the final match held in the Chilean capital, Santiago.
Royal reception
Subsequently, Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan received the world champions under 20 years old at the Al-Amer Palace in Rabat.
The Crown Prince presented the President of the Royal Football University, Fawzi Lakjaa, the national team coach, Mohamed Wehbe, and the players with royal medals, in a ceremony he held in honor of the members of the national team.
After the official reception, the celebration procession started from the Royal Palace, passing through the Ambassadors Gate, then Mohammed V Street, for the world champions to meet their people, in a scene that reflected feelings of joy and pride, and brought back to the streets of Rabat the atmosphere of Qatar’s World Cup achievement.
Popular celebration
The official procession, which was dedicated to celebrating the players and members of the technical and administrative staff, advanced amid large crowds and heavy guarding, while the fans were waving the Moroccan flags alongside the Palestinian ones and chanting stadium chants such as “Sir Sir” and “Congratulations to us.”
A number of citizens expressed their great happiness at this reception, which highlights the amount of love and appreciation that Moroccans have for their heroes in international sports forums.
Moroccan citizen Mohamed told Al Jazeera Net: “My eyes shed tears as I see our heroes among us. I am very happy. The national team has made a great effort and accomplished its work perfectly.”
For her part, Maryam said: “We came to welcome our heroes who achieved a historic victory and brought joy to our hearts. I wish them a successful journey…and always Morocco!”
A well-deserved joy
For his part, journalist and sports analyst Mohamed Belaoudi attributes this popular joy to the fact that the achievement of the “Atlas Cubs” confirmed that national football is on the right path.
Belaudi told Al Jazeera Net, “We needed a new joy after previous achievements,” referring to the first team’s arrival to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar 2022, and the continental titles for Moroccan teams in their various categories.
He pointed out that what the Moroccan under-20 team has achieved is “a qualitative leap that gives more confidence to Moroccans and establishes in their minds a new mentality of competing for titles.”
The spokesman believes that the royal and popular reception is deserved, “because it is a tribute to an effort and achievement that will remain engraved in the memory of Moroccan sports history.”
After reaching the World Cup final was a dream for the Moroccan national team in its various categories, it finds itself today a champion against teams the size of Argentina, Brazil, France and Spain. Belaoudi says: “It is not an easy achievement at all, and it deserves all forms of celebration and honor.”
A new football culture
The Moroccan journalist asserts that the Atlas Cubs “did not win by luck or chance,” noting that they won all their matches deservedly and deservedly, “thanks to good management of the match phases, intelligence in dealing with opportunities, and offensive efficiency, in addition to the high fighting spirit that distinguished the players.”
Belaoudi believes that this achievement will be considered a reference in the history of national football. He says: “We have raised the bar of ambitions more than previously expected. We used to say it was just ambition, but they fought the competition with the necessary confidence and will, which led them to the title.”
Belaudi, the former official spokesman for Raja Casablanca, recalled that Moroccan football teams played 6 finals in one year, winning 4 of them and losing two (the final of the African Cup for under 20 years and the final of the African Cup for Women).
The speaker believes that these numbers highlight that Morocco has actually entered the stage of “the culture of titles and victory,” a culture “that was absent in previous years.”
The world title won by the Atlas Cubs in Chile is the culmination of an upward trajectory for Moroccan football, which has proven its strong presence in various age groups, following the achievements of the first team in the 2022 World Cup. With this victory, Morocco becomes the first Arab team to win the title and the second African team after Ghana in 2009, and confirms that African football is capable of competing at the highest international levels.