Fans of Morocco’s Wydad AC brought a party like ‘no one has ever seen’ to Lincoln Financial Field

In Wednesday's FIFA Club World Cup match between Morocco's biggest club and English giant Manchester City, the game itself was secondary to the experience.

Wydad AC supporters were out in full force as the team took on Manchester City in Wednesday's FIFA Club World Cup match at Lincoln Financial Field.Read moreDavid Maialetti / Staff Photographer

by Kerith Gabriel

Published June 19, 2025, 10:04 a.m. ET

Lahoucine Kharmaj was in awe of what he was witnessing.

There, in front of him, just six rows up in Section 110 at Lincoln Financial Field, was the club that held his heart from nearly 4,000 miles away. Kharmaj was one of the many fans clad in red, singing and chanting as a united front Wednesday in support of Casablanca, Morocco-based Wydad Athletic Club, which played English giant Manchester City in the first of its two matches in Philadelphia as part of the FIFA Club World Cup.

“This is a dream for a lot of us Moroccans here,” said Kharmaj, a Casablanca native who traveled from New York City for the match. “For a lot of us, I don’t think they have a chance to watch this great team come here to America.”

Manchester City won, 2-0, in the Group G match, but the final score didn’t matter. The game maybe played second fiddle to a fan base that featured one of the largest assemblies of Moroccan football lovers in Philly in recent memory.

With that came an indescribable energy that started even before the first kick.

The team’s supporters, many of whom filled that same section, along with Section 111, sang for their club outside the stadium in a march to the Linc down Broad Street and jeered City and its bevy of stars inside the stadium all game. They even made things colorful midway through the second half when plumes of red and white smoke covered the section, followed by silver flares that could clearly be seen, despite sunny skies and searing temperatures.

One of those flares might have made it onto the field just to the right of the goal and Wydad AC goalkeeper El Mehdi Benabid, disrupting the game — if only for a moment. But it felt more like celebratory overflow than a display of hooliganism.

“This atmosphere is beautiful,” Kharmaj said. “But the best part about it is, look, old fans, Moroccans, British fans, we are all sitting next to each other, no problem, no issues. This is about having fun, and we are all having fun.”

Northeast Philly resident and devout Wydad AC supporter Joe Biton said he’ll never forget being among so many Moroccans like himself. It had makings of a core memory for Biton, who was born in Casablanca and said he played in Wydad’s youth leagues during his formative years.

“Oh my God, I can’t describe this,” Biton said as he stopped to talk between bellowing team songs and waving the team’s flag from the steps of Section 109. “I literally feel like Superman flying around right now. This is a celebration like no one has ever seen.”

More than 6,000 Moroccans live in Philadelphia. Like Biton, a large concentration of Moroccans are centralized in parts of Northeast, according to 2024 data from the Pew Charitable Trusts. The largest contingent lives across the tristate area, and New York (41,356) has the largest population in America.

“Moroccans love, we love hard, and this is one of our hard-fought teams,“ Biton said. ”They are playing against one of the best teams in the world. I knew we would show up, but I didn’t think it’d be like this.”

The juxtaposition of Wydad’s fandom to the support of Manchester City fans was a bit of a surprise, considering how the English Premier League and its stars are broadcast throughout the United States.

While cheers came after each City goal and a roar from the MCFC fan base certainly was heard when its star, forward Erling Haaland, entered the match, it seemed to pale in comparison to the fervor brought by Wydad supporters, who put on as much of a show as their team on the field.

Maybe even a little more.

Wilder even to think, when City has a vibrant fan club based in Philly that generally converges on Center City’s Tir na nOg most weekends for City matches.

For fans of Wydad, watching their club play a giant like Man City made some even praise FIFA for its revamp of the Club World Cup — a contrast to its criticism as a cash grab that has backfired for soccer’s governing body.

“Without this competition, you’d never see this,” said Wydad supporter Abder Khalemi, who also drove down from New York City. “These [big European] teams don’t play us; it’s hard to get a match against a big club like City, but this event makes that happen. It’s a dream come true for me to see this team so close to my home.”

Many of these fans plan to run it back when Wydad plays one more game in Philly against Italian side Juventus FC on Sunday (noon, DAZN). If Sunday’s finale for Wydad in Philly is anything like its opener, then a glimpse of the club’s faithful supporters is worth the price of admission.