Give Them Their Glass Slipper!

There are times in tournaments in which the field will be quite top-heavy. We've seen that in games such as the NCAA Tournament, Champions League, and EUROs.

Certainly, the World Cup seemed that way, with powerhouses such as Argentina, Brazil, Spain, England, France, and Portugal making the Round of 16. Another team that made the Round of 16 was Morocco National Football Team. To the shock and awe of every World Cup analyst and pundit, they won Group F.

Their unofficial "We're here" message to the rest of the field was a 2-0 victory over the #2 ranked team in the world, Belgium National Football Team. This was the result that ultimately got Belgium eliminated in the group stage. As great as it was for Morocco to get past the group stage, one wouldn't have been surprised if Morocco met their match with Spain.

Morocco's stellar defense confounded the Spanish National Team for 120 minutes. Then Spain was outdone by Morocco in penalty kicks and a goalkeeper who was practically a steel curtain. Yassine Bounou ("Bono") was in the heads of the Spanish players before they even attempted their penalty kicks.

On Saturday, Morocco found a way to put up another clean sheet against a Portuguese National Football Team that had put up six goals against Switzerland National Football Team. All they needed was one goal. Youssef En-Nesyri scored the goal.

Youssef En-Nesyri Jump

En-Nesyri jumped as high as Michael Jordan's jump from the free throw line to win the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He leaped over Portuguese goalkeeper Diego Costa and a defender and found the back of the net.

Thanks to their defense, the Morocco soccer team has made history by becoming the first African team to make the World Cup semifinals. To quantify the enormity of Morocco's accomplishment, you would have to look at this from a sports betting perspective.

There is no question that Morocco is the ultimate Cinderella story. According to Fox Bet, Morocco was a +25000 to win the World Cup. Morocco had the longest odds of making the World Cup Semifinals in the last four decades.

Now, the semifinals of the World Cup are set. For Morocco to get to the World Cup, they must get through Kylian Mbappe and the defending World Cup Champions, France. It remains to be seen whether the French National Team will  be the end of the line for Morocco.

France may end up being the representation of midnight for Cinderella. But then again, maybe Morocco will find a way to upset the defending champs. After that, they'll be one win from one of the greatest sports stories in modern history.

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