The Moroccan players qualified for the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in history after they defeated Portugal, in the process, becoming the first Arab nation and first African nation to reach the last 4 of a World cup. Earlier, after the team qualified for the World Cup quarter-finals following a win over Spain, the team members were seen asking their fans and people in general to embrace Islam. According to the reports, two players, Zakaria Aboukhal and Abdelhamid Sabiri, returned to their hotel after the match against Spain and broadcasted a live stream in which they invited the viewers to embrace Islam.
Alhamdulillah. We have reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup and this has happened for the first time in history. This is all because of Allah. Allah-hu-Akhbar. Join us. Join us. Join Islam. Come. Come to the peace,” the players could be heard saying in the video.The duo also posted their photographs on Instagram later in which they raised their index fingers which signifies ‘oneness in God’ in Islam. Zakaria Aboukhal and Abdelhamid Sabiri also captioned the images they posted online and wrote, “Allah hu Akbar,” and “Freedom,” respectively.Ahead of the FIFA World Cup matches, the host country Qatar had made all the arrangements to introduce Islam to the new non-Muslim visitors to the country. It had installed numerous digital boards at tourist destinations about the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings in more than 30 different languages. Also, books about Islam and Prophet’s teachings were distributed to the visitors.Further, at the Katara Cultural Village Mosque in Doha, multilingual male and female preachers were chosen to convey Islam’s faith and ‘tolerance’ to tourists. Workers and preachers from the Qatar Guest Centre were posted at the mosque’s entry to greet visitors and answer questions about the mosque