Amid the deafening noise at the Fifa Fan Festival in Doha, an Egyptian girl and her Lebanese friend covered their faces and struggled to hold back the tears.
They then punched the air and let out a roar as Achraf Hakimi, Morocco’s Spain-born football star, had just written his name in Arab hearts with his match-winning penalty kick against Spain.
It was a kick that broke the Spanish hearts and sent Morocco into the World Cup quarter-finals, sparking unbelievable scenes at the fan festival.
A few yards away from the Lebanese and Egyptian friends, a group of Tunisians, Yemenis, Egyptians and Libyan nationals hugged and broke into a dance, all draped in their national colours.
