Brahim Díaz will not wear the La Roja jersey at the 2026 World Cup unless there is a surprise, his jersey will be different: the Moroccan jersey. Although the Real Madrid football player was born in Malaga, the city where he started his sports career, and both his father and mother were born in Spanish cities, the young man was tired of waiting for the call from the Royal Federation. He let Morocco, the country from which his Spaniard and his grandmother come, love him. His case is a countless reminder of how the Atlas Lions attract talent among the children and grandchildren of the diaspora. Sometimes with footballers who have little connection to Morocco.

There is a World Cup event on the horizon, on the 26th and the 30th.

Brahim to Morocco. The news was reflected in sports newspapers: Real Madrid’s Malaga player Brahim Díaz accepted the calls from Morocco and decided to play for the National Team from now on.

For days, it had been pointed out that only a few details remained to complete the young man’s nationalization. Ace anyone Hidden They think it’s already solved. Therefore, his “yes” to Morocco will be certain and his team’s call-up could happen immediately in the friendly matches against Angola this month or in the friendly matches against the Mauritania team scheduled for the end of March.

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years of experimentation. The decision of the 24-year-old Real Madrid football player came after Morocco had been trying for years to add him to the national team. The Maghreb nation had been after him since the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he played for Manchester City, and tried again ahead of the 2022 competition in Qatar, where the Atlas Lions reached the semi-finals.

Even national coach Walid Regragui and Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa, an influential figure in the Maghreb country who also works as a high-ranking civil servant and politician, were present at his signing ceremony.

Brahim was on La Roja coach Luis de la Fuente’s preliminary list for the friendly matches against Colombia and Brazil, but ultimately preferred the Morocco project. The Spanish coach said the following about his decision today: “I absolutely respect it. But at the same time, I have always said that there are three principles of being a player: being able to play in the National Team, wanting it and the team calling him.” “The most important thing is to love unconditionally, unconditionally, with equal rights and obligations.”

Searching for the waters of the diaspora. Brahim Díaz’s situation is not an isolated case. For the last few years, the Moroccan team has been trying to recruit talent for the Atlas Lions from among the children and grandchildren of the diaspora. Of course, with more or less luck. Open cases include Lamine Yamal, Achraf Hakimi, Munir El Haddadi, Munir Mohamedi and Ilias Akhomach, all from Spain. Yamal, who chose to play for La Roja, was born in Catalonia; Hakimi and El Haddadi in Madrid; Mohamedi in Melilla and Ilias Akhomach in the province of Barcelona.

Not all cases occur in players with Moroccan ancestors born in Spain. In the 2022 World Cup, Romain Saiss and Sofiane Boufal, who were born in France and started their sports careers in French clubs, played in the African team. The duo may choose to compete in the African jersey. Even the team’s coach, Walid Regragui, was born south of Paris.

born outside Morocco. The data was provided by the BBC network when reviewing the Moroccan team in 2022. According to his calculations, the majority of his players were born outside the African country and had a direct connection to the diaspora. The British channel noted that more than half (14) of the squad of 26 actors were born outside Moroccan territory: four in the Netherlands, the same number in Belgium, two in France, two in Spain and the rest in Italy and Canada. . .

looking at the calendar. Morocco has a major event on its sports calendar: the 2026 World Cup and the next World Cup in 2030, which will be co-hosted by Portugal and Spain and some matches will be played in Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. The African country has signaled its intention to leverage its investment power by committing hundreds of millions of euros to stadiums and creating a new major stadium in Casablanca.

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