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Morocco’s national football team on Friday secured its first-ever Olympic knockout game victory after a 4-0 victory over the United States, recalling the Atlas Lions’ historic advancement to the Fifa World Cup semifinals in 2022.

With a vibrant Moroccan community in France, the stadium was filled as if it were a Morocco home game, with fans donning the team’s signature red and green jerseys.

Unlike the World Cup, the Olympic games seek to highlight rising players by limiting the age to 23, with three older players allowed.

This means the Atlas Lions line-up differs from that of 2022, although World Cup veteran Achraf Hakimi – a Paris Saint-Germain star and perhaps the most famous Moroccan soccer player – leads the team as its captain.

Hakimi, a defender playing in his club’s home stadium, scored a dazzling goal in the second half, running solo from the midfield into the opposing box.

Morocco became the first Arab and African nation to make the World Cup semifinals after defeating Spain and Portugal, a team featuring the star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Atlas Lions were heralded as heroes in the Middle East and North Africa, popularising chants such as “siir!” (go!) and Arabic words like “niyyah” (intention). The team also highlighted North Africa’s ethnic diversity with its many Amazigh players and sent a message by waving the Palestinian flag in celebrations.

Videos of the Atlas Lions celebrating with their mothers highlighted the prominence of maternal figures in Moroccan families and that was emphasised when Morocco’s king later hosted a reception with the players and their mothers rather than their spouses or partners.

Morocco also defeated powerhouse Argentina, who won last year’s World Cup. Next Monday, the Atlas Lions will face Spain in the semifinals.

Morocco’s national football team on Friday secured its first-ever Olympic knockout game victory after a 4-0 victory over the United States, recalling the Atlas Lions’ historic advancement to the Fifa World Cup semifinals in 2022.

With a vibrant Moroccan community in France, the stadium was filled as if it were a Morocco home game, with fans donning the team’s signature red and green jerseys.

Unlike the World Cup, the Olympic games seek to highlight rising players by limiting the age to 23, with three older players allowed.

This means the Atlas Lions line-up differs from that of 2022, although World Cup veteran Achraf Hakimi – a Paris Saint-Germain star and perhaps the most famous Moroccan soccer player – leads the team as its captain.

Hakimi, a defender playing in his club’s home stadium, scored a dazzling goal in the second half, running solo from the midfield into the opposing box.

Morocco became the first Arab and African nation to make the World Cup semifinals after defeating Spain and Portugal, a team featuring the star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Atlas Lions were heralded as heroes in the Middle East and North Africa, popularising chants such as “siir!” (go!) and Arabic words like “niyyah” (intention). The team also highlighted North Africa’s ethnic diversity with its many Amazigh players and sent a message by waving the Palestinian flag in celebrations.

Videos of the Atlas Lions celebrating with their mothers highlighted the prominence of maternal figures in Moroccan families and that was emphasised when Morocco’s king later hosted a reception with the players and their mothers rather than their spouses or partners.

Morocco also defeated powerhouse Argentina, who won last year’s World Cup. Next Monday, the Atlas Lions will face Spain in the semifinals.

Republican lawmakers Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Elise M Stefanik wrote a letter this week to US Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris “to express concern” about her national security advisor Dr Philip Gordon’s alleged connections to Iranian influence campaigns.

They alleged that Gordon is connected to US defence official Dr Ariane Tabatabai, who was accused of being a part of the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), an Iranian foreign ministry project promoting Tehran’s interests in the West.

An investigation by Semafor found that Tabatabai consulted the Iranian government ahead of several meetings.

Thirty-one Republican senators, including Cotton, wrote a letter urging the secretary of defence to review Tabatabai in September of last year.

The Department of Defence found her security clearance befitting protocol, and Tabatabai continued in her role. Previously, she was also cleared for work at Nato and the think tank, Rand Corporation.

This week’s letter alleged that Gordon and Tabatabai co-authored several opinion articles “blatantly promoting the Iranian regime’s perspective and interests” by arguing against sanctions on Tehran.

It also listed Gordon’s speaker engagements at the National Iranian American Council, a non-profit with pro-Iranian stances.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is no stranger to Iran accommodators, appeasers and accomplices,” Cotton and Stefanik wrote.

Cotton previously said that the “little Gazas” – referring to pro-Palestine encampments on university campuses – are “disgusting cesspools”.

Stefanik recently spoke at the Israeli parliament, calling for unconditional US aid to Israel.

The two lawmakers asked Harris to respond to a series of questions regarding Gordon’s security clearance and ties to Tabatabai.

“As the Vice President what specific actions will you take to address the issue of Iranian sympathisers, aside from yourself, within the Administration?” the lawmakers wrote, implying that Harris is an “Iranian sympathiser” herself.

A prolific writer with high-ranking roles across multiple administrations, Gordon is expected to play an important role in a Harris White House if she is elected president.