Twitter Reacts as Morocco Makes History by Reaching World Cup Semi-Finals

Morocco continued its winning streak, delighting fans and impressing the World Cup's global audience as it became the first African team to ever reach the international soccer competition's semi-finals as it defeated Portugal on Saturday.

The final score was 1 to 0, with Morocco's Youssef En-Nesyri scoring the lone goal in the first half. The North African team already became the first from the Arab world to reach the quarter finals, meaning it is also now the first Arab team to reach the semi-finals as well.

Many on Twitter celebrated the news, describing it as a victory for Africa and for Arab nations. Notably, the World Cup is taking place this year in Qatar—the first time it's been held in a Middle Eastern nation.

"Yesssss! MashaAllah Morocco making Africa proud! Making Palestine proud! Making Muslims proud! Making us all proud! Al hamdulilah!" Dr. Omar Suleiman, an imam and professor at Southern Methodist University, wrote in a tweet.

"HISTOOOORRRYYYYY!!! Morocco are in the SEMIFINALS," Usher Komugisha, a sports analyst for Al Jazeera posted on Twitter. "First African and Arab team to qualify to the last four of the World Cup. What an incredible story of hope, resilience and hard work."

Komugisha went on to describe Morocco as "GIANT KILLERS."

"Morocco have now beaten European giants Belgium, Spain and Portugal at this World Cup and held Croatia to a goalless draw in their opener. Respect the Atlas Lions!" she wrote.

"HEROIC," Maher Mezahi, an Algerian sports journalist tweeted. "How can you not be proud of every single Moroccan player on that pitch? They all played with everything they could possibly muster and they deserve to make it to the semi-finals!"

Billionaire SpaceX founder and Twitter CEO Elon Musk shared his praise as well. "Congrats Morocco!!" he wrote in a post including several Moroccan flag emojis.

Representative Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, cheered the North African team's victory. "Congratulations Morocco," Omar wrote. "What a brilliant joyful game."

"First African and Arab country to reach the semi-final of a World Cup. Amazing victory by Morocco. What a journey. What a tournament," MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted.

Morocco World News reported Saturday that the North African country "erupted" in celebration as the Atlas Lions defeated Portugal. The outlet reported that throughout the country fans were wrapped in the Moroccan flag or waving it as they cheered the win.

One video shared to Twitter showed a massive crowd in Marrakesh as the game finished. The crowd can be seen erupting into thunderous applause, cheers and screams of excitement at the news.

Morocco will next play either France or England on Wednesday, depending on which European team wins in their quarter-final match on Saturday. After that game, only four teams will remain. The two other teams to make the semi-finals, Argentina and Croatia, will face each other on Tuesday.

Newsweek reached out to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation for comment.

Update 12/10/22 at 12:50 p.m. ET: This article was initially published as breaking news and was updated with additional information.