Moroccan soccer star Nouhaila Benzina recently became the first player to wear a hijab in a major tournament when she wore the headscarf in a 2023 World Cup group stage match. Now Benzina will be donning a hijab in FIFA 23 after a new patch update of the popular EA Sports video game franchise.
Benzina continued to wear her hijab at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. The 25-year old helped Morocco defeat Korea Republic 1-0 during group play, which marked the country's first-ever World Cup victory.
EA Sports have introduced the hijab in FIFA 23 for Morocco's Nouhaila Benzina🇲🇦
— FUTBIN (@FUTBIN) August 9, 2023
She is the first player to wear hijab at the Women's World Cup.
Benzina’s and now EA’s impact will have an entire demographic of football fans and players being represented on the biggest stage👏 pic.twitter.com/v3vnTQvXs8
Prior to this update, Benzina's avatar wasn't wearing a hijab in FIFA 23's World Cup mode. However, EA Sports updated the game prior to Morocco's Round of 16 match against France on Tuesday.
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."
Back in 2007, FIFA banned all hijabs and called it a "safety risk" to players. In 2014, FIFA lifted that ban, but many different soccer federations and countries still didn't allow players to wear hijabs during matches.
