Morocco’s Yasmine Mrabet Leads New Wave of Women’s Soccer at World Cup Debut

With a Spanish father of Moroccan origin and an English mother, Yasmine Mrabet, 24, has the three nationalities. European Under-19 champion in 2018 with Spain, she experienced on Monday the first match of the Lionesses of the Atlas against Germany, double world champion, unfortunately lost 6-0 despite a good performance of the Moroccans. "Making my World Cup debut against a team of the stature of Germany is always special. We are all very excited [...] But we didn’t come here just to play and that’s it. We want to show what we’re capable of... Anything can happen in a match," said Yasmine Mrabet to AS.

The central defender of the Moroccan team is "proud to represent Morocco, especially in our first World Cup." "More and more girls are being accepted into teams. I think the Moroccan Federation has contributed a lot to this. I hope that with this World Cup, there will be a new dynamic to allow girls to practice a sport, beyond football. We want to change mentalities and break down barriers for the girls who come after us and Moroccan women in general," she insisted.

After Germany, the Lionesses of the Atlas will face Colombia and South Korea. "We know we are considered underdogs. But [...] the important thing is to know who we are, where we are and where we come from and to be true to our style and our game plan," said Yasmine Mrabet, who hopes her team will go as far as the Lions of the Atlas did at the World Cup in Qatar. "We were lucky to exchange with Walid Regragui and one of the strengths he highlighted is that they were a family, and very united, and it’s something we also realize. We have to stick together and support each other," she added.