One of the first things you’ll notice when you walk into Atlas Barber Shop in Brookline is the flags.
Two prominent flags adorn the wall: the red, white and blue of the United States and the green and red of Morocco. Another string of smaller flags lines the ceiling, representing the other nations in this year’s World Cup.
It’s also where this GBH News reporter usually gets his hair cut.
As the U.S. played Paraguay in its opening match earlier this month, it was a place to gather. Just over a dozen men gathered in the shop as the match played on the TV screen. Some sat on barber chairs pushed against a wall. Others rested in folding chairs. Someone even brought homemade cookies.
Ayoub “Jake” Snouti, the shop owner, is originally from Morocco. He brought a huge spread of dishes from his home country, like bastilla, a flaky meat pie. A sweet variety of the dish had chicken and nuts, and another was made with seafood. Staples like rice and beef tagine rounded out the fragrant spread — more than enough to go around. Snouti said it took two days to get the food ready.
“Moroccan food is a gastronomy food, man,” he said. “Like, one dish can take you four, five, six hours.”
The U.S. went on to win easily 4-1, a result that thrilled the shop especially since the Americans scored more goals in one night than they had in the entirety of the previous World Cup. After the match, Snouti brought out some aluminum foil so people could take home leftovers.
The following day, Atlas Barber Shop hosted a watch party for the Morocco-Brazil match at their Harvard Square location.
The watch parties are an extension of the barbershop’s mission to share a bit of Moroccan culture. They want to host a party for as many matches as they can for each team — the United States and Morocco — as long as they’re in the tournament. One barbershop, two nations.
“We’ll go with the U.S. and Morocco all the way they’re going, through stages,” Snouti said. “And hopefully one of these teams that we represent, they could go [to the] finals.”
Building community
Hamza Meziane is one of the barbers at the Brookline location. He said there’s a large Moroccan community in the area, especially in places like Malden, Everett and Revere.
GBH News spoke with Meziane before Morocco beat Scotland in Foxborough. Meziane had tickets, and was planning to attend.
“Even if I [didn’t] have tickets, I was really planning to go see them in training sessions or, like, see them passing by the bus,” he said. “Even I got an idea which is I could email all the players if they need a haircut to come to me. So, I was really excited to have the players coming here.”
Ali Kanzi was also excited to see that match with his family, paying about $470 per ticket.
Kanzi has been friends with Snouti for about 15 years.
“And he’s always been the way he is where he’s like, social and gets all these people together,” Kanzi said. “That’s his joy.”
The U.S. and Morocco are both advancing to the next round. So there will be more chances for the shop to mix football with food as they cheer on the Atlas Lions and the Stars and Stripes.
‘Two hearts’
For Snouti, this World Cup is a chance to celebrate the two countries that have helped make him who he is. He’s spent over half his life in the States.
“I made my American dream here, I earned my maturity here,” he said. “I have my kids here, my life, my future.”
But Morocco is where he’s from.
“I’m a combination of two flavors, of two nations, of two hearts,” he said.
And at Atlas Barber Shop, those two hearts are beating in unison during this World Cup.
