Nouhaila Benzina, a 25-year-old defender for a pioneering Morocco team appearing in its first World Cup, became the first player to wear a hijab in the tournament when she started her team’s 1-0 victory against South Korea on Sunday.
Morocco’s presence at the Women’s World Cup already has yielded a string of notable moments. It is the first North African team to qualify for the field, as well as the first from a majority Arab nation. And its first victory was a monumental achievement that kept alive its hopes for something even bigger: a place in the knockout stages.