Tomorrow morning at 4.00am, France play Morocco in the quarter-final of World Cup 2026. Look at the record and history clearly favours France. In six previous meetings, Morocco have never beaten them in regulation time. France won four, the other two ended in draws. If you only go by the numbers, many people would have already decided who is going through.

But over my life, I have learned one thing that matters a lot. History is only a record of what has already happened. It is not a guarantee of what happens next.

Morocco are no strangers to pressure. They were the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final. This year, they come in as champions of the Africa Cup of Nations. They are not just carrying the name of their country. They are carrying the belief that something everyone calls impossible can actually happen. Yes, history says they have never beaten France. But history never said they cannot beat France.

That is why I always tell entrepreneurs: do not turn history into a sentence on your future. Many have lost hundreds of thousands of ringgit. Some had their first business fail, then the second one lost money too. Some were betrayed by partners, cheated by customers, and lost staff at the exact moment the company needed them most. What hurts even more is that some eventually start losing faith in themselves, simply because they have lived with the story of yesterday’s failure for too long.

I understand that feeling. I have met tens of thousands of entrepreneurs over nearly two decades. I know how it feels when you have given everything and the results still are not what you hoped for. I also know how it feels when other people have stopped believing in you. But the most dangerous thing is when you yourself stop believing in you.

But listen carefully. Failure is not your identity. Failure is just one event in your journey. What happened yesterday is only the record up to that day. It is not a forecast of tomorrow. As long as Allah SWT still gives us the chance to breathe, we still have the chance to rise and write a new history.

Morocco may walk out as the underdog. But sport has proven again and again that many underdogs end up making history. Not because they are luckier, but because they refuse to let yesterday’s defeat decide today’s result.

Business is the same. Do not let old failures steal tomorrow’s dreams. Do not let one mistake make you believe your whole life is a mistake. And never let other people decide how your story ends.

So I want to ask myself, and I want to ask you too. Are we still living under the shadow of yesterday’s failure, or are we ready to write a new history?

Never give up. Be resilient.

Because as long as we have not stopped trying, our story is not over yet. And I believe, with Allah SWT’s permission, the most beautiful chapter of our lives may not have been written yet.

— Datuk Wira Dr Azizan Osman