Morocco head to a first ever Women’s World Cup finals buoyed by their recent rapid rise in the game and hoping to emulate their men’s side who stunned the world with their semifinal place in Qatar at the end of last year.
It has been an incredible few years for the Moroccan’s women team, who have uncovered new gems and look a side very much on the up.
Key to their recent success has been playmaker Rosella Ayane, who was born in England and plays for Tottenham Hotspur in the Women’s Premier League.
Ayane is a former England junior international but in 2021 the 27-year-old switched allegiances to the land of her father. She might also have represented Scotland through her mother.
She is comfortably the most experienced and accomplished player in the Moroccan team and they will rely heavily on her Down Under.
She came through the youth ranks at hometown club Reading before being poached by Chelsea, where she was polished through the club’s Centre of Excellence.
She made her first team debut in 2013 at the age of 17, but then had a succession of loans at Millwall, Bristol City and Everton. In the end, she only made six appearances for Chelsea before joining Cypriot side Apollon Limassol and then a permanent return to Bristol City.
She finally found a permanent home at Tottenham, where she has spent the last four years. Ayane helped the club to ninth in the 2022/23 season, playing 19 of their 22 games.
When it became clear she would not have an extended run in the England senior team, she took the opportunity to play for Morocco, making her debut in June 2021 and scored within a minute of coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 victory over Mali.
She was a key figure for Morocco as they made the final of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations they hosted, scoring one of her two goals in the final against South Africa, though it was Banyana Banyana who won 2-1.
In all she has nine goals in 21 caps, and will be the chief threat for Morocco at the World Cup, where they face Germany (July 24), South Korea (July 30) and Colombia (July 3) in their first round pool.
It was her penalty in the WAFCON shoot-out against Nigeria, and now famous unwitting muted celebration, that booked Morocco a place at the World Cup, becoming the first Arab nation to do so.
She had not realised her kick was the winning one, and only started to celebrate when she saw her teammates sprinting towards her.
“Someone asked me if that was my celebration, and I was like, 'I’m not that cool.' I wish I was that cool, but I’m not that cool!" she told Sky's Inside the WSL.
On deciding to play for Morocco, she says she had no doubts.
“For me, it was kind of a no-brainer. I have such a close connection with Morocco. It’s my dad’s side of the family. It has such a special place in my heart, and it just felt right,” she said.
"When I was deciding I didn’t really have to think about it, which for me already says what my answer.”
She says childhood memories of holidays in Morocco and playing football in the street there helped her form a bond with the country.
"I was in the streets with all the Moroccan girls and boys until around 10 o’clock at night. I’m five or six or seven years old, and I’m just kind of living my best life in the street, just no care in the world or for anything else that was going on.
“There’s a lot of talent in Morocco, and they’ll eventually be picked up and spotted but I’m so proud to be flying the flag for Morocco, for Africa as a continent and for other countries that don’t necessarily get the recognition sometimes that they deserve.”
She says the achievements for the team and her personally have been overwhelming at times.
“I really need to take a step back and actually look at what we’ve achieved because sometimes I can’t put it into words. So, it’s been a real journey and one that I’m going to be proud of for the rest of my life."