00:06The Union of North African Football contains the five African nations along the Mediterranean coast,
00:13with Morocco in the west and Egypt in the east, sandwiching Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
00:24It is historically the strongest region in the continent for football.
00:34Egypt has the leading record at the Africa Cup of Nations,
00:41while Morocco has pushed the boundaries for Africa at the World Cup.
00:46These are indeed proud moments and a proud period for football on the African continent,
00:55taking into account the performance of all of our five national teams that were representing Africa at the FIFA World
01:06Cup, Qatar.
01:08And in particular, the historic achievements of Morocco that has made all of us exceptionally proud.
01:17They have made all of us in Africa uniquely proud.
01:23Club level, sides from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have taken a stranglehold on the CAF Champions League.
01:35Through this pathway, the region has become a nursery for world-class players.
01:41Be it Algeria's Riyad Mahrez, Morocco's Ashraf Hakimi, or Egypt's Mohamed Salah.
01:51I live in the other world right now, and all the kids now, they want to be like Salah.
01:56In the past, it was only Messi and Ronaldo.
01:59A component of North Africa's success is its proximity to Europe and the ease with which football culture has permeated.
02:09For example, francophone Tunisia have been coached at various times by French luminaries Henri Michel,
02:18Roger Lemaire and Alain Giresse.
02:24On top of that, colonization of the region and patterns of migration, especially involving France, provide symbiotic footballing benefits.
02:36Many of France's best players have North African roots, and many of North Africa's best players carry French passports.
02:45I want to dedicate to my family, and all the African, of course, Algerians as well, and all the people
02:56who support me every day.
02:58I want Africa and I want the world. Thank you.
03:02Riyad Mahrez grew up in northern Paris, to an Algerian father and the mother of Algerian and Moroccan descent.
03:10His long-standing Fenex teammates Aissa Mandi, Nabil Bentaleb and Ismail Benassir were all born in Europe.
03:24Compared to other regions in the continent, North African football has been well-financed, especially at club level, leading to
03:32strong domestic leagues and an embedded supporter culture.
03:41Egypt and Al-Aqli are the Real Madrid of the CAF Champions League, with a record 12 titles.
03:48Two clubs share second place with five titles apiece, one of which is Zamalak, also from Cairo.
03:56Not since 2016 has, aside from outside, Unaf lifted the trophy.
04:06The region has long suffered from security challenges and political instability, but there is growing confidence from the international community,
04:16as demonstrated by Morocco's selection by FIFA as one of the co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup.
04:26Morocco is also blazing a trail in women's football, creating a domestic league in 2001,
04:33hosting the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, then reaching the knockout stage on World Cup debut in 2023.
04:46All this success is leading to increased influence on the world stage.
04:51Moroccan Fouzi Lekjar, for example, is the first vice president of CAF, a member of the FIFA Council,
04:58and chair of the committee in charge of the joint candidacy of Morocco, Spain and Portugal for the organisation of
05:06the 2030 World Cup.
05:10Lekjar also helps Morocco's King Mohamed VI invest in football,
05:15leading to nation-building projects like the state-of-the-art Académie Mohamed Siste de Football in Saleh,
05:22which helped fine-tune the development of the likes of Nayef Agurid and Youssef En-Nasiri.
05:30These developments reflect the significance of the sport in North Africa,
05:35an increasingly prosperous and visible group of football nations.
05:40And they say,
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