Driving to West Philadelphia’s Shibam Coffee Co., Ayham Muhanna got a flat tire.
Muhanna, a rabid Morocco fan, wasn’t going to let that stop him from making it to the café, which was hosting a watch party for Morocco’s World Cup quarterfinal matchup against France.
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“I love the community. I love the vibes out here,” Muhanna said. “We could have gone anywhere else, but we decided to come to Shibam. After coming here for the first time for the Egypt and Iran game, we saw that the energy was through the roof. We saw that the community was all here showing out and showing love.”
Although Morocco fell 2-0 to France in Thursday’s match, the energy was palpable inside Shibam, a Yemeni coffee shop, as a mostly Morocco-supporting crowd packed the café. Yemen and Morocco, despite being thousands of miles apart, share many similarities in terms of language, culture, religion. During the World Cup, fans of each country tend to support one another. This was evident in Shibam as most of the fans were members of the region’s vast diaspora.
The original Shibam Coffee Co. is based out of Dearborn, Mich., the only Arab-majority city in the United States. Fahad Azam is a part-owner of the West Philadelphia franchise, one of 19 Shibam locations in the country. While not a soccer fan himself, Azam saw an opportunity to further connect with the surrounding community by holding watch parties for the World Cup. The turnout for the first game blew away his expectations.
“It was a madhouse,” Azam said. “We didn’t know what we signed up for, but obviously we love the environment, we love the passion that everyone brings. We want to do more. The World Cup is not going to happen again next year. We wanted to show the community that we’re not just a coffee shop.”
That they did. Although Morocco’s offense was stagnant — France logged a 21-4 shot advantage — the fans who packed into Shibam held out hope until the game’s final moments. The biggest crowd pop came in the 28th minute after Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou denied France star Kylian Mbappé’s penalty attempt. Then, to start the second half, fans brought out tambourines and drums to lead the usually quiet coffee shop in song.
Morocco fans in West Philly cheer on their team pic.twitter.com/OohcDaBXIT
— Conor Smith (@conorfsmith) July 10, 2026
The line to get a coffee spanned the entire café. It was impossible to maneuver around without bumping into multiple people. Nonetheless, when everyone rose to their feet in anticipation of a shot or as fans broke out into a rendition of Shakira’s “Waka Waka” after the pop star was shown on screen, any would-be negatives disappeared.
“I’m half Moroccan, so it’s always been in my family, supporting Morocco and coming out for them,” said Mahdi El-Hadi, a Newtown Square resident. “I’ve been a huge Morocco supporter since I was a kid. … We have the vibes, we have the music. We’re always super excited for every game.”
One watch party attendee, Yusra Aziz, owns her own psychotherapy practice. At work, Aziz readily shares the importance of finding and embracing community to her clients. She listened to her own advice on Thursday. Aziz is the daughter of immigrants — her mother was born in Morocco while her father came over from Iraq. The joyful scene inside Shibam acted as a point of pride for her.
“When I was growing up, there was a lot of this type of vibe in our house,” Aziz said, gesturing to the crowd around her. “My family would host it. There would be a lot of our community members. When I was growing up, I could have only dreamed of having something like this. I did not see things like this growing up — cafes that were hubs for our community.”
“It feels symbolic of what my parents did by coming here,” she added. “They met here in Philadelphia, and I wouldn’t exist if they didn’t meet here. Looking at all these people here, I know that a lot of them are in similar circumstances. Their parents came here, and they were born here.”
In this World Cup, underdogs have stolen the spotlight, the U.S. men made a notable run and Philadelphia not only welcomed the world but gave visitors a crash course on just how real the curse of the Rocky Statue can be.
Join Jonathan Tannenwald, the Inquirer’s soccer writer, and host Lisa Carlin, analyst for CBS Sports Golazo, as they dissect the matches, the moments, and more as Philly has its moment in soccer’s brightest spotlight. Watch our latest episode right here.
Watch previous episodes:
Episode 1: The Wait is Over!
Episode 2: Groups, Goals, and Glory
Episode 3: Electric Action in Philly
Episode 4: The Knockout Rounds Begin!
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