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CALGARY, Alberta — When their national team faces off against Morocco today in its first-ever knockout match in a men’s World Cup, Canada’s political class will be in cowboy hats and boots.
The annual Calgary Stampede extravaganza attracts politicians and lobbyists who fly in for Stampede’s first four days for dealmaking, team building and/or partying — sometimes all three. Ottawa’s fishbowl and Toronto’s power set are drawn west by chuckwagon races and grandstand acts. They fit serious meetings in between carbo-loading pancakes, gawking at the rodeo and schmoozing up and down the nonstop reception circuit.
Once they reach Canada’s largest inland western city, federal pols are under a microscope: Do they look the part? Can they flip a pancake? Does it seem like they really want to be there?
Those who want to latch onto the newest outlet for Canada’s emergent patriotism may struggle to do so today. One of Saturday’s big political events — the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Calgary Stampede Mixer — begins at noon, an hour after the Canada-Morocco match kicks off in Houston.
Scheduling would have been more straightforward if the cowboy cosplayers had stayed put in Ottawa. The federal Department of Canadian Heritage — whose mandate is to support “Canadian identity and values, cultural development, and heritage” — is hosting a watch party at LeBreton Flats Park.
“From coast to coast to coast, the country is rallying behind the team as they write an incredible FIFA World Cup story,” Canada’s secretary of state for sport Adam van Koeverden said in a press release promoting the event sponsored by a government that has seen the tournament as an exercise in soft power. “It’s undeniable in moments like these that sport is a great nation-builder, and we can build Canada strong through sport.”
Blue Light News’s Canada Playbook will publish special editions from Calgary Stampede this weekend. You can subscribe here.
Morocco’s starting lineup against Canada may have closer personal ties to Europe than North Africa. A majority of the squad, in fact, were born in Europe: 18 of 26 players, many from France.
That heritage captures the essence of a 21st century World Cup team — shaped by diaspora scouting, evolved eligibility rules and a more fluid sense of national belonging.
Morocco is far from alone; the tournament has featured scores of teams featuring so-called dual nationals. That includes Canada, a onetime soccer doormat that has leveraged its multiculturalism by explicitly prioritizing the recruitment of dual nationals from across the globe.
Stephen Eustáquio, the Canadian midfielder whose goal against South Africa secured the country’s place in today’s match against Morocco, could have also played for Portugal, which he represented at youth level before declaring his allegiance to Canada.
But few countries have mastered modern roster construction practices like Morocco, a semifinalist in 2022. Historically, top players of Arab and African descent — following decades of migration shaped by colonial empires — reinforced European national teams, which held a disproportionate share of World Cup slots. But this year’s 48-team expansion has altered that dynamic, nearly doubling the number of Asian and African tournament seats.
That, in turn, has offered more options to Europe-based players who either wanted to play for their ancestral nation or saw a clearer path to playing in the World Cup that way. Country switch rules have also eased iteratively since 2004, allowing players to qualify through birthplace, citizenship or heritage and, conditionally, switch countries later in careers.
Talent from European diaspora communities have also been incentivized to consider their heritage teams by the backdrop of ongoing clashes over immigration, integration and Muslim identity across France, Belgium, the Netherlands and beyond.
Morocco’s ascent to the ranks of global footballing powerhouses isn’t staked on foreign recruitment alone. Since 2009, Morocco has invested substantially in domestic soccer infrastructure and training academies, which now complement its European scaffolding.
In some ways, this tournament serves as a hinge for Morocco; it confirms that the team’s 2022 World Cup breakthrough — marked by Madrid-native Achraf Hakimi eliminating Spain in a penalty shootout — was no fluke. And it conveys a more self-assured Moroccan stature, ahead of its status as a 2030 World Cup co-host. Morocco is no longer just a regional football power — it’s a team on shared terms with European heavyweights and a vessel for solidarity across the Maghreb, Arab world, African continent and global Muslim public.
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