One team that's really turned heads at the 2022 FIFA World Cup is Morocco.
The African team has reached the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time and conceded just one goal across four games in Qatar.
Morocco have quickly become fan favourites across the world, with the side also not short on support in the stadiums they've been playing in.
As the country makes a name for itself at the World Cup, their abbreviation on scorelines has left some fans confused.
MORE: Why did Achraf Hakimi choose to play for Morocco over Spain?
Why is Morocco MAR in World Cup?
Every country recognised by FIFA is given a tricode that is used to represent each team in a shortened form.
Generally these codes are simply the first three letters of a side's name, so why is Morocco referred to as MAR?
Well, that's because Morocco is also known as Maroc in French, with France previously having a large colonial influence on the country.
While Moroccans generally speak Arabic or Berber these days, their official country code remains as a reference to their French past.
𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 😳
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 6, 2022
Morocco reach the Quarter-Finals for the first time. 🇲🇦 #FIFAWorldCup | #Qatar2022 pic.twitter.com/Z6uVjyLmWz
Morocco World Cup history
The 2022 World Cup marks just the sixth time Morocco have qualified for the FIFA tournament.
From their previous five attempts, they only made the knockout stage once and were unable to make it past the Round of 16.
That makes 2022 by far their best campaign to date with the side winning more games across four matches this year than they did across their previous five World Cups.
| Year | Stage | Record (W-D-L) | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Group | 0-1-2 | 2 | 6 |
| 1986 | Round of 16 | 1-2-1 | 3 | 2 |
| 1994 | Group | 0-0-3 | 2 | 5 |
| 1998 | Group | 1-1-1 | 5 | 5 |
| 2018 | Group | 0-1-2 | 2 | 4 |
| 2022 | TBC | 3-1-0 | 4 | 1 |
Can Morocco win the World Cup?
Of the remaining teams at Qatar 2022, Morocco have the longest odds of lifting the trophy and are the lowest-ranked team by over 10 spots.
A quarterfinal match against Portugal is one of the kinder fixtures they could have gotten though with either England or France then awaiting in the semifinals should they win.
No African side has ever made it to the final four so this in itself would be a significant achievement for Morocco.
Only eight nations have ever won the World Cup and while Morocco would love to become the ninth, it's hard to see them giving their fairytale run a truly extraordinary ending.
