Manchester United chief executive officer Omar Berrada has admitted that France will not be the team he is supporting at the World Cup this summer.
France are in Group I for the tournament in North America and the 2026 World Cup will mark the final competition for Didier Deschamps as the country’s head coach.
Les Bleus manager Didier Deschamps led France to the World Cup trophy in Russia in 2018 before falling short in the final to champions Argentina in 2022 in Qatar.
Omar Berrada was born in Paris, but the Manchester United CEO’s footballing allegiance does not belong to the two-time World Cup champions.
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Why Man Utd CEO Omar Berrada supports Morocco instead of France ahead of the 2026 World Cup
Omar Berrada’s parents were Moroccan and the 48-year-old Manchester United figure’s loyalty extends to his mother and father’s native homeland.
Morocco defied the odds in the World Cup in Qatar after the Atlas Lions reached the semi-finals before they were knocked out by Didier Deschamps’s France side.
Speaking on the Inside Carrington podcast, Berrada admitted that he has been a life-long Morocco supporter and recalled his first experience of the World Cup.
“I’ve always supported Morocco,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official podcast.
“My first football memory is the 1986 World Cup. Yeah, in the group phase [he was told Morocco played England].
“It was the first time that an African country went beyond the group phase, and then they lost to West Germany.
“I was massively into football. I think from the moment I could walk, I was always into football.”
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Berrada arrived at Old Trafford back in 2024 after Ineos appointed the former Manchester City chief football operations officer as the Red Devils’ CEO.
The Moroccan businessman admitted that he never wanted to pursue a career as a football player, but the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson impacted him growing up.
“I never had the talent to go really far in terms of playing it, but I’ve always been a huge follower of football and growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, I was really attracted by, obviously, Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona, Arrigo Sacchi’s AC Milan and Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United,” Berrada added.
The 2026 edition of the World Cup will kick off on Thursday evening, as co-host nation Mexico faces South Africa in their Group A opener at the Mexico City Stadium.
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