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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Oisin Doherty

Everyone makes same 'curse' joke as Irish ambassador to Morocco dons Mayo jersey in show of support

Irish ambassador to Morocco James McIntyre has sent social media into overdrive by wearing a Mayo jersey in a sign of support to Morocco ahead of their World Cup semi-final clash with France this evening.

The African nation's home kit has a colour scheme of red and green, so it's not too dissimilar to the Mayo kit.

And while the underdogs will be thankful of the support, many Twitter users pointed out that Morocco may not want their to be too many more similarities between themselves and Mayo.

READ MORE: Mayo pub with Argentina roots backing Lionel Messi to make history on Sunday

"What about the curse?" wrote one user.

While another person said, "Oh, God love them, you didn't put *that* on them, did you?"

Another user simply put "Holy jinx."

The 'curse' of Mayo is an urban legend that stems back to the last time Mayo won the All-Ireland senior football title in 1951. As they made their way back to Mayo with the cup, the legend goes that the team disrupted a funeral with their celebrations.

The priest who was doing the funeral then 'cursed' the team, and said that Mayo would only win another All-Ireland title when every member of the 1951 team had passed away.

The 'curse' became entwined into the fabric of Irish culture over the decades as Mayo conspired to lose 11 All-Ireland finals since their last win in 1951. A string of bad luck saw Mayo twice beaten in finals by a rampant Kerry side, before falling at the final hurdle on three occasions to the legendary Dublin side that won 8 titles between 2011-2020.

Perhaps the most damning proof of the 'curse' came in 2016 when Mayo conceded two own goals to Dublin in a game that the Connacht side dominated. The game was drawn, and the Dubs won in the replay.

As Morocco prepare to take on reigning World Champions France this evening, they will no doubt be hoping that the 'curse' of '51 doesn't affect the heroes of '22.

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