In a first, FIFA 23 video game features Morocco’s Benzina in hijab

The popular EA Sports video game franchise FIFA 23 will now feature Moroccan football standout Nouhaila Benzina wearing a hijab after a recent patch update.

Before the update, Benzina's avatar lacked a hijab in FIFA 23's World Cup mode. However, EA Sports rectified this ahead of Morocco's Round of 16 clash against France on Tuesday.

At the 2023 World Cup's group stage match, Benzina achieved a milestone by becoming the first player to wear the Islamic headscarf in a major tournament.

The 25-year-old defender helped Morocco defeat South Korea 1-0 during group play, which marked the country's first-ever World Cup victory.

Just three weeks before the 2023 World Cup began, France's top administrative court upheld the French Football Federation's (FFF) ban on players wearing hijabs in matches. The FFF called the rule "suitable and appropriate."

In 2007, FIFA banned the hijab, calling it a "safety risk" to players.

Seven years later, FIFA lifted the ban, but many different football federations and countries still did not allow players to wear a hijab during matches.

Role model for Muslim women

Following the 2014 reversal of FIFA's head-covering ban, the 2016 under-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan witnessed Muslim players donning headscarves in an international FIFA event for the first time.

Now young Muslim footballers around the globe say Nouhaila Benzina is their role model since she paved the way by wearing a hijab at the Women's World Cup.

“Girls will look at Benzina (and think) ‘that could be me,” said Assmaah Helal, a co-founder of the Muslim Women in Sports Network.

"Furthermore, policymakers, decision-makers, and administrators should acknowledge the necessity of fostering accepting, open and inclusive environments for women and girls in sports,” Helal added.

Helal said that since the ban was lifted, she has seen an increase in Muslim girls and women playing football, pursuing coaching pathways and leading their own clubs.

“I think it’s key to understand that the hijab is an essential part of a Muslim woman, should she choose to wear it,” Helal said.

Helal was among the social activists, Muslim athletes and government and football officials who worked to overturn the ban.

Benzina plays professional club football for the Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal – the eight-time defending champions in Morocco’s top women’s league.

“We are honoured to be the first Arab country to take part in the Women’s World Cup,” Morocco captain Ghizlane Chebbak said before the tournament.

“We feel that we have to shoulder a big responsibility to give a good image, to show the achievements the Moroccan team has made," Chebbak said.