Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has had an influence Morocco's stunning World Cup run to the semi-finals.

Morocco manager Walid Regragui - managing at native side Wydad AC at the time - attended the Spaniard's 2021 masterclass via zoom on the Gunners' 2020 FA Cup win.

In that call, Arteta broke down Arsenal's 2-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City and the behind-closed-doors 2-1 final win over Chelsea.

Regragui, 47, listened with intent and was clearly taking notes, as just a year later he is managing in a World Cup semi-final.

Morocco are the Qatar World Cup's dark horses, and topped a group consisting of 2018 finalists and fellow semi-finalists, Croatia, as well as Belgium's golden generation and an impressive Canada side.

The North African side then slayed 2010 winners Spain 3-0 on penalties after drawing 0-0 in normal time.

Portugal came up next in the quarters and Morocco pulled off an unlikely 1-0 win to become the first African country to reach the last four of the competition, going one further than Cameroon 1990, Senegal 2002 and Ghana 2010.

Impressively, Morocco have conceded just one goal in the winter tournament and it didn't even come from an opposition player.