Hundreds of fans turned up on the Curry Mile in the freezing cold to watch Morocco take on France in the World Cup. Shisha lounges and sports bars that were showing the historic match on Wilmslow Road were rammed with many unable to get in stood watching the game outside.
Morocco ultimately lost, but their run saw them become the first African and Arab team to make it to the World Cup semi finals. Despite going behind early, the mood among the crowd steadily picked up thanks to the team's heroic performance which saw them come close to scoring against the mighty France.
Morocco had seen off worthy opponents in Belgium, Spain and Portugal on their route to the final and before the game started fans were in a confident mood even though they were facing the former world champions.
One fan said: "We're very confident, we're not worried. I think we will win." It wasn't just Morocco fans who were there to support the team, flags from Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Palestine and Turkey were spotted among the crowd as Morocco's success was seen as a shared one in Muslim, Arab and African countries.
One excited fan said: "The whole of the Middle East, the whole of Africa is behind us." Another proclaimed: "The first time in history! Arabic and African history, we will make it, we will make it!" middle-eastern and South Asia Wilmslow Road was as hundreds came to watch the Moroccan national team make history despite their loss.
Chants of 'Dima Maghreb' which means 'Morocco forever' broke out in intervals as the crowd grew in confidence with their team. Despite being behind for the entirety of the game, Moroccan fans were in a buoyant mood throughout and believed they had what it takes to reach the World Cup final.
Ahmed Bilal, who came all the way from Scotland with his brothers Moses and Arslan said: "We're not Moroccan, but we came all the way from Scotland to watch the game. We had some beautiful food and now we're watching the football.
"You don't get anything like this in Scotland! Manchester Rules!"
It wasn't to be however, France's second goal proved to be the ultimate mood killer of the night as a deafening silence fell over Curry Mile when Muani's goal went in. Despite the loss however, many Moroccans said they were 'proud' of their players and a party atmosphere continued well into the night under the watchful eye of police.
Mounir from Fallowfield and Morocco said: "This is football, we should just accept it, we had a good tournament and played really really big games from the start. We played teams like Belgium, Canada, Portugal, Spain.
"We did really well. We just have to concentrate on the next game and get third place." Another disappointed fan said: "The players did very well, we're just proud of them, never has an African or Middle Eastern team been so far, we're very proud with what they've achieved."
Another 'proud' supporter said: "I've been watching football since I was a kid and we've never been so far. I'm very proud of everyone supporting Morocco. Congratulations to France and Argentina for the final, we're just gonna concentrate on the next competition like African Cup of Nations next year."
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