The Casablanca Derby (Arabic: الدربي البيضاوي) is a derby between the Moroccan football clubs Raja and Wydad. Matches are played in the Stade Mohamed V, often containing a fierce and vibrant crowd.
The Casablanca Derby has extensive national media coverage and is a topic of debate for several days before and after the match between the fans of both clubs, whether in the streets, schools or workplace.
As in most of the world's derbies, riots and fights can take place before, during and especially after a major game.
The first match between the two rival was in 1956 in which Raja won 1–0. The second match was won by Wydad 3–0 in 1957.
In 1978, Raja players withdrew from the match against Wydad during the last 10 minutes of the second-half because they were mistreated after conceding a penalty with a red card to their goalkeeper. Raja players did not accept the referee's decision and left the stadium by order of their captain Mohamed Fakhir, while Pitchou sat on the ball and waited with passion to score this penalty but Raja players refused to continue the match. The game ended by a score of 1–0 for Wydad.[1]
In 1956, Wydad won 6-0 in the Moroccan Throne Cup semifinals , this score is the highest between the two rivals.
On April 6, 2001, Wydad initially won the match by 3–0, but Raja complained about the illegal participation of the substitute Abdelhaq Ait Laarif who was registered with both Wydad and Étoile de Casablanca. The Moroccan federation accorded the win to Raja.[2]
On September 29, 2001, during the 100th derby which was part of the semifinals for the Moroccan Throne Cup, Youssef Belkhouja, a Wydad player, died on the lawn of Mohammed V Stadium, due to a heart attack.[3]
On 24 May 2006, there was a fierce competition between the two rivals to clinch the league title. Raja scored first with a penalty by Abdellatif Jrindou, that result would have given Raja the title; but at the end of the match (at the 90+6 minute), a staggering strike from a long distance by the defender Hicham Louissi gave Wydad the draw needed to win the league for the 16th time after 13 years of the last cup.[4]
On October 20, 2007, during an encounter between rival team supporters, Hamza Eddali, a Wydad fan who was 17, died at the Casablanca derby. Hamza Eddali is to date the last person killed in the Casablanca derby.
On April 18, 2010, after Raja beat Wydad with a score of one to none, a fight broke out between Wydad and Raja fans, resulting in injuries and property damage. Over one hundred people were arrested.[5]
In 2012, Wydad requested from the FIFA and Royal Moroccan Football Federation to count the 5 titles that the club won in the regional championship organized during the Colonial Era in Morocco by french authorities before the creation of the Moroccan federation in 1956 as Botola titles.Their request was accepted and so, increased the number of titles of Wydad in Botola from 12 to 17. Wydad is the only club in Morocco to have their titles from the colonial era (before 1956) admitted by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and FIFA.
On November 23, 2019, the two rivals met in the second round of the Arab Club Championship, this was the first time that the derby took place in a non-local competition. The first game ended 1–1,[6] with Wydad leading by away goals. The second leg was one of if not the most epic match in derby history, with Wydad going up 4–1 with 15 minutes to play and Raja coming back to score in the 94th minute to make it 4–4, with Raja progressing on away goals. This is the record for most combined goals in derby history but the match is also notable for its extraordinary atmosphere, with numerous Tifos being displayed and fireworks and flares going off throughout the match, the latter of which there were so many it looked at times that the stands were on fire.[7]
Wydad leads Raja in terms of official overall trophies. Wydad have 30 domestic titles compared to 20 for Raja, while Raja leads in CAF Champions League with 3 titles compared to 2 titles for Wydad.[12]
