00:02The Union of North African Football contains the five African nations along the Mediterranean coast.
00:10With Morocco in the west and Egypt in the east, sandwiching Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
00:21It is historically the strongest region in the continent for football.
00:30Egypt has the leading record at the Africa Cup of Nations.
00:37While Morocco has pushed the boundaries for Africa at the World Cup.
00:42These are indeed proud moments and a proud period for football on the African continent.
00:52Taking into account the performance of all of our five national teams that were representing Africa at the FIFA World
01:03Cup Qatar.
01:03And in particular, the historic achievements of Morocco that has made all of us exceptionally proud.
01:14They've made all of us in Africa uniquely proud.
01:19Club level, sides from Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have taken a stranglehold on the CAF Champions League.
01:32Through this pathway, the region has become a nursery for world class players.
01:38Be it Algeria's Riyad Mahrez, Morocco's Ashraf Hakimi or Egypt's Mohamed Salah.
01:48I live in the other world right now and all the kids now, they want to be like Salah.
01:52In the past, it was only Messi and Ronaldo.
01:56A component of North Africa's success is its proximity to Europe and the ease with which football culture has permeated.
02:05For example, Francophone Tunisia have been coached at various times by French luminaries Henri Michel, Roger Lemaire and Alain Giresse.
02:21On top of that, colonization of the region and patterns of migration, especially involving France, provide symbiotic footballing benefits.
02:32Many of France's best players have North African roots and many of North Africa's best players carry French passports.
02:42I want to dedicate to my family and all the African, of course Algerians as well and all the people
02:53who support me every day.
02:55I want Africa and I want the world. Thank you.
02:59Riyad Mahrez grew up in northern Paris, to an Algerian father and the mother of Algerian and Moroccan descent.
03:07His long-standing Fenex teammates Aissa Mandi, Nabil Bentaleb and Ismail Ben Assur were all born in Europe.
03:21Compared to other regions in the continent, North African football has been well financed, especially at club level, leading to
03:29strong domestic leagues and an embedded supporter culture.
03:37Egypt and Al-Aqli are the Real Madrid of the CAF Champions League, with a record 12 titles.
03:44Two clubs share second place with five titles apiece, one of which is Zamalak, also from Cairo.
03:52Not since 2016 has, aside from outside UNAF, lifted the trophy.
04:02The region has long suffered from security challenges and political instability.
04:08But there is growing confidence from the international community, as demonstrated by Morocco's selection by FIFA as one of the
04:17co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup.
04:22Morocco is also blazing a trail in women's football, creating a domestic league in 2001, hosting the Women's Africa Cup
04:32of Nations in 2022, then reaching the knockout stage of World Cup debut in 2023.
04:42All this success is leading to increased influence on the world stage.
04:47Moroccan Fouzi Lekja, for example, is the first vice president of CAF, a member of the FIFA Council, and chair
04:56of the committee in charge of the joint candidacy of Morocco, Spain and Portugal for the organization of the 2030
05:04World Cup.
05:06Beqcan Fouzi Lekja also helps Morocco's King Mohamed VI invest in football, leading to nation-building projects like the state
05:14-of-the-art Academy Mohamed Sis de Futbol in Saleh, which helped fine-tune the development of the likes of
05:22Nayef Agurd and Youssef En-Nasiri.
05:27These developments reflect the significance of the sport in North Africa, an increasingly prosperous and visible group of football nations.
05:37These are the six-class female members, based on CNN on iTunes.
05:37These developments reflect the myth of the country finance, theĂ nhof-the-art Academy of Commons LWìïżœ Schmidt fans, with the
05:38international committee of global masters and executives
