We are nearing the end of this year's World Cup quest, and the lineup for the final is set: France goes up against Argentina this Sunday for the main prize of the tournament, and a chance at a very rare twice-in-a-row world championship, last achieved by Brazil in 1962. Today's match, however, also contained a tremendous victory in and of itself, in the ascendancy of Morocco, the first African team to reach the semifinals of the World Cup in an astounding tournament run that captured the hearts, minds, and imaginations of billions of people in Africa, the Middle East, and all around the world. In this remarkable postcolonial derby against France, a team itself made up of mostly African and Arab migrants, Morocco broke the inferiority complex that has dogged underdog teams from the Global South, as well as the patronizing colonial gaze that limits the imagination in both the global core and periphery. Dominant in the second half, never breaking, pushing through injuries and battling until the final whistle, Morocco, even in defeat, expanded the horizons of possibility for oppressed and colonized peoples everywhere, and for that they have secured their place in World Cup history, and the world is forever grateful.
Lilian Thuram, the French football legend whose son Marcus Thuram's performance for France helped clinch today's victory, said in his recent book White Thinking that \"we all engage with the past through the prism of extremely powerful historical and cultural forces that have shaped us in different ways,\" and that breaking down the colonial mindset in all of us, with an understanding of history, \"can provide us with the tools to construct a shared future.\" Today's game between France and Morocco, with all the historical and cultural layers underlying it, has, in the words of Laurent Dubois, offered \"a different way of seeing movement: not as a danger, but as possibility and freedom that makes something beautiful in the world.\"
Alan and Mel salute Morocco, analyze the nuances of today's exciting match, and cast our lots on opposite sides of Sunday's final showdown: will the Cup secure a generational legacy for French football, or come home to the Church of Maradona in a long-sought moment of glory for Messi and Argentina? Sunday's magisterial final will show what Fate has in store for the World Cup in 2022.
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