One of my most delightful sporting experiences was watching the 2018 World Cup match between England and Tunisia in a Parisian bar. My English friend and I were heavily outnumbered by Tunisians but we were made to feel welcome in a festival of dancing and singing. Even when Harry Kane scored a late winner it didn’t dampen the spirits of the young Tunisians, many of whom were beer-drinking women.
I imagine they celebrated long into the night last week when Tunisia beat France in the World Cup, a shock victory that was greeted with good-natured joy by Tunisians across France.
Another North African nation has also been making its mark in Qatar, and Morocco’s defeat of Spain on Tuesday took them into the quarter-final of the World Cup for the first time. It came down to a penalty shootout and when Achraf Hakimi buried the winning spot kick into the back of the Spanish net it sparked jubilant scenes in Morocco led by King Mohammed VI.
The media coverage of the trouble has been similarly muted
The scenes in Europe were different.
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