Photo: French-Moroccan comic’s half and half supporter top

French-Moroccan actor and comedian Jamel Debbouze arrived at the semi-final World Cup match between the two countries last night (December 14) wearing a half-and-half shirt, having been unable to choose which team he was supporting.

France won the match 2-0, and will play Argentina in the final on Sunday (December 18). Morocco will play Croatia on Saturday for third place in the World Cup.

One side of Mr Debbouze’s shirt was in the Moroccan colours while the other was in the design of the French team.

When asked who he would be supporting by sports channel network beIN Sports a few days earlier, Mr Debbouze said that he was struggling to choose, adding: “It is as if my father was playing against my mother.”

The France-Morocco semi-final was an historic event, Morocco being the first African team to ever make it that far in a World Cup tournament.

There are around 780,000 people of Moroccan origin currently living in France, according to the national statistics institute Insee.

“We are playing a football match, it should be a celebration. And I think that for all Franco-Moroccan dual nationals, it should be a party. Whatever happens, we will have a good time together on the Champs-Élysées, whether Morocco wins or France,” Morocco’s head coach Walid Regragui, who is himself both French and Moroccan, said before the game.

Huge viewing figures

Some 20.69 million people in France tuned into TF1 last night to watch the semi-final, a record for this World Cup.

Even when France won the tournament in 2018, they were not technically watched by as many people, with the official viewing figure sitting at 19.3 million in France. However, it is thought that there were an additional five million people in fan zones and bars.

France’s first match of this World Cup – when they won 4-1 against Australia – was watched by 12.5 million people in France, while its second against Denmark attracted 11.6 million, its third against Tunisia 8.8 million and its fourth against Poland 14.3 million.

France’s quarter-final victory against England was watched by 17.72 million in the country.

Last night, 66.4% of the people watching television in France were watching the football.

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