A student from Gambia, Fattoumata Jarbi, described the atmosphere after Morocco won the match against Spain on Tuesday."I had my Moroccan hat with me, I was screaming and jumping in my room when I knew they qualified to the quarterfinals," Jarbi said.
A Liberian student, Sidiki Sanoe, said the win sent a strong message to the world.
"What we as Africans are trying to accomplish is far beyond just football," he said. "We are trying to tell the world that Africans have talents. We are very talented, we can go for better things and we can achieve."
Morocco's coach, Walid Regragui, is another source of pride as a local coaching the national team. All Africans teams in the World Cup this year have had local coaches, a departure from the past when most teams had European coaches.
Regragui is the first African coach to ever lead a team to qualify for the World Cup quarterfinals.
In Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Caroline Muthoni said Morocco's win over Spain felt very comforting, citing both the team's performance and its family touch.
"Morocco was the last hope for Africa. And did you see how the team celebrated with their mothers? There's just something about that country, and now it's in my bucket list," she said while scrolling through photos of Achraf Hakimi, who scored Morocco's final goal against Spain, and his mother.