Morocco fans in Qatar for their team's World Cup semifinal against France on Wednesday struggled to find tickets while excitement built back home even as some were left stranded when extra flights to Doha were scrapped.
Morocco's success, the best World Cup run by a team from Africa or the Arab world, has been cheered from Baghdad to Bamako during the first World Cup hosted by an Arab state, with the side notching up wins over top European sides Belgium, Spain and Portugal.
Thousands of Moroccans have flown into Doha, many from Morocco and others from the diaspora in the Gulf and beyond, helping fill stadiums with the national colours of red and green.
Arab and African supporters have swelled their ranks, as Morocco prepare to play against France, two-time World Cup winners, Morocco's former coloniser and home to many Moroccans.
Fans arrived at Al Bayt Stadium in al-Khor hours before the game to find a big security presence, including mounted police, and metal security cordons well before the first formal ticket checks to stop people without tickets trying to get in.
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At other Morocco matches, ticketless fans crowded outside the stadium, sometimes blocking the entrance for others and sparking scuffles with police and other fans.
Nearly all the first fans at the stadium were wearing Moroccan colours, with only a few carrying blue French scarves. Some also wore Palestinian scarves and waved Palestinian flags while others had the flags of Morocco's neighbour Algeria.
"Everyone in the Arab world is supporting them from their whole heart and with prayers. God willing we will win," said Othman Abu Mizan, a Morocco fan near the stadium.
Moroccans arriving overnight on extra flights said they had expected to get tickets on arrival, but many were left disappointed.
"Ninety-five per cent of people on the plane didn't have a ticket," said Mohammed, who had waited for tickets alongside his wife and three children.
Mohammed Amzil, 30 and Mehdi Gandouze, 25, both Moroccans living in Doha, queued all night at a stadium where some free tickets were handed out.
"We spent the night here and the end of the day and we didn't get anything," Amzil said, adding that he had seen sporadic fights between some of those waiting unsuccessfully.
Authorities set up a large screen outside the police cordon at the stadium and directed fans without tickets to watch the game there.
Other fans had been left in Morocco after Royal Air Maroc said overnight that seven flights had been cancelled - half the extra flights that had been expected to fly. It blamed restrictions by the Qatari authorities for the cancellations.
Qatar's international media office did not respond to requests for comment.
Youssef Chippo, a Moroccan former national team player and BeIn sports channel commentator in Qatar, said the cancellations were linked to the arrival of many fans without match tickets.
JUBILANT MOOD
In Morocco, excitement was building before kick off. Flags fluttered from homes and buildings in an outpouring of national pride. School children in Rabat chanted soccer anthems.
In France, Tarek Idrissi, 31-year-old national of Morocco and France, was preparing to watch the match at his father's home outside Paris.
"Football is from the heart and guts and I am 200 per cent behind Morocco," he said, promising to join other Moroccan fans celebrating on the Champs Elysees in Paris if Morocco win.
French President Emmanuel Macron walked through a crowded Souq Waqif, a Doha tourist area, about 90 minutes before he was due to attend the match, waving to passers by.
He had brushed off suggestions he should boycott the World Cup after Qatar faced intense criticism by rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers behind the preparation work in the tiny Gulf state.
Before now, no Arab country had progressed to a quarterfinal and no African country had reached a semifinal.
"I feel so excited that Morocco is still in the race to lift the World Cup. It will be a privilege for Africa," said Aureline Meli, 24, a management assistant in Cameroon's capital Yaounde.
After beating Portugal on Saturday, congratulations poured in from African and Arab presidents, prime ministers and sporting greats.
In Rabat, billboards were pasted with pictures of individual players or the whole team, now hot property for advertisers of everything from banks to telecom companies. In the old city, street vendors carried armfuls of memorabilia for sale.
Cafes in Rabat removed tables to fit in more seats to watch the game. One cafe was selling places inside to customers.
"We are playing the champions. We are anxious but so happy at the same time. Long live Morocco!" said Mounia Tazi, climbing from her car with two friends to enter a cafe.
A bus driver who was supposed to be driving 500 km (300 miles) from Rabat to the city of Nador on Wednesday said he would now leave on Thursday instead.
"I am delaying my departure until tomorrow to be able to enjoy the match," he said, asking that his name was not published so his employer did not get angry with him.