French hearts, Jamaican home - Island-based Les Bleus supporters amped up for World quarter-final against Morocco

Thousands of fans around the world, including in Jamaica, will be glued to their television sets when the first quarter-final match of the 2026 World Cup kicks off later today at Boston Stadium.
The highly anticipated contest between France and Morocco is a rematch of their 2022 semi-final, in which France eliminated Morocco before going on to lose to Argentina in an exciting final.
Brazil and Argentina command the lion’s share of support in Jamaica. However, backing for France grows with each World Cup, though locals arguably will not be as invested as two French nationals who now call Jamaica home.
Melina Helias, a freelance journalist and French teacher, and Clovis Lemée are well aware that the clash is deeply rooted in colonial history, as Morocco was a French protectorate between 1912 and 1956.
Beyond that shared history lies the raw desire for footballing revenge, driven by the sport’s long memory.
Lemée will be on the job as director of Alliance Française in Jamaica this afternoon, but told The Gleaner he will be giving himself and his staff time off during the match to support their team.
France has lived up to its pre-tournament favourites tag but, for Lemée, that counts for little.
“To me, it doesn’t change anything. This is the World Cup. Every team is dangerous and everyone wants to win. Morocco are the current African champions. They have a very good team and have built confidence during the last few international competitions. France have the best attack in the world right now, but in a single game anything can happen. I think our attack is stronger than it was in 2022. Back then, the attack mostly relied on (Kylian) Mbappé, but now we have (Michael) Olisé and (Ousmane) Dembélé, who won the Ballon d’Or with Paris Saint-Germain this year. I think it will be harder to defend against France this time. We’ve seen Argentina struggle in almost all of their games in the competition so far, so they will have to be stronger defensively if they want to stop France’s attack,” Lemée argued.
Helias will also be on the road but does not intend to miss a minute of the match, supporting her home country from afar.
“I will be out of town and will be enjoying France-Maroc (French for Morocco) in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth. I haven’t decided which bar exactly yet, but I know it will be easy to find somewhere showing it and that it will be a vibe. For the final on July 19 - and I’m very confident France will be there, but one thing at a time - I will be going to Tailgate in Portmore with my Jamaican friend, Ronique, who lives in Paris. She said that’s where the vibe is. It should be fun watching it with her and supporting France together, since I live in her native country and she lives in mine,” Helias told The Gleaner.
Helias covers sports as part of her job and knows how unpredictable results can be, but she is backing Les Bleus to claim the coveted title.
“To be honest, I’m more excited than nervous about the favourite’s tag, this third star. And I’m pretty confident. For me it’s always a special moment because I was born in the summer of 1998, first star, and I was visiting Jamaica, where I now reside, for the very first time during the 2018 World Cup, the second star. On a sports level, I like what I’ve been seeing so far. Obviously, there’s a lot of quality in the team, but it’s also a team that plays well together. Sometimes in football nowadays, I think people tend to overestimate the importance of individual talent and forget it’s a team sport, a collective sport. Didier Deschamps (France coach) is great at what he does; he has experience winning a World Cup, and losing too, both as a player and as a manager,” said Helias.
She also weighed in on some of the off-the-pitch distractions.
“The players are focused and, despite some really unfortunate external events, Deschamps’ mother passing, racist remarks from the Paraguayan politician and the drama around that game on Saturday, they know what they are doing. It also seems to be a tighter-knit group off the field, from what I’m seeing in the vlogs by the FFF (French Football Federation); and there’s the fact that they’re all closer in age, too. It’s Deschamps’ last one, so that’s one more reason to make it special. Allez, Les Bleus,” Helias excitedly said.
The Gleaner could not locate any Moroccans living in Jamaica, but approximately 1.5 million people of Moroccan descent live in France. Reports also indicate that more than 10,000 Moroccans live in Massachusetts, where the match will be played. Thousands are expected to pack Boston Stadium, while many others will gather at watch parties across the city.
karen.madden@gleanerjm.com