''My staff is French but my heart is Moroccan'' – Morocco women’s head coach

Morocco's clash with favourites France in the Women's World Cup on Tuesday will be a special occasion for the Atlas Lionesses and their coach Reynald Pedros.

Pedros, a former France international, said he was looking forward to taking on the country of his birth when the two teams face off in the last 16 – aka the knockouts – in Adelaide on 8 August.

As manager of Olympique Lyonnais, Pedros won consecutive Champions League titles in 2019 and 2020. Six members of France's World Cup squad played under him at Lyon, including captain Wendie Renard and all-time top scorer Eugenie Le Sommer.

Morocco, the first team from the Middle East and North Africa region to compete in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament, was thrashed 6-0 by Germany in the opener but 1-0 upsets of higher-ranked South Korea and Colombia propelled them into the last 16.

The Atlas Lionesses aim to continue their fairytale debut by reaching the quarter-finals.

Produced by Alexander Durie