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31st July 2023
08:39am BST
Nouhaila Benzina has made history as the first player to wear a hijab at a World Cup.
She wore the head covering during Mococco's 1-0 victory against South Korea on Sunday.
The 25-year-old defender was an unused substitute for Morocco’s opening 6-0 defeat against Germany last week but was selected in the starting lineup by Reynald Pedros, the manager, for the crucial match in Adelaide.
The wearing of head coverings for religious reasons was authorised by Fifa in 2014.
Benzina wore a white Islamic headscarf as she helped secure a vital win for Morocco that keeps them in the running for the knockout stages in their World Cup debut.
The moment has been lauded on social media, with the tournament "continuing to inspire and break boundaries for future generations."
During Sunday's match, Morocco, who are 55 places below South Korea in the women's rankings, made an early breakthrough with a sixth-minute goal by striker Ibtissam Jraïdi.
The two sides spent the remainder of the game trying to find another point and came close several times.
South Korea’s Casey Phair nearly equalised late in the game, but the 16-year-old, who became the youngest player to take the field in Women’s World Cup history in their opener, fired wide to leave them bottom of the group.
Benzina, who plays in Morocco for AS FAR (Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal), made some crucial interventions, while she almost scored from a set piece when she volleyed a snapshot over the bar, The Guardian reported.
She is the first player to wear a hijab at a senior women’s international tournament.
Fifa previously banned the hijab on health and safety grounds but that was changed in 2014 before the Under-17 Women’s World Cup held in Jordan.
The association feared the hijab posed a risk "of injury to the head or neck".
The Asian Football Confederation lobbied football's lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), to do a trial run in 2012 to see if this risk was legitimate.
After two years, IFAB decided to rescind the rule against players wearing religious headdresses.
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