Host nation Morocco starts with
Photo: Mosa'ab Elshamy/AP/TT

Host nation Morocco starts with a victory

Not since Burkina Faso in 1998 has a host nation lost the opening match of the African Championship. Morocco did not go down to any minnows at home in Rabat. The World Cup four started by scoring 2–0 at Comoros.

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The "Lion of the Atlas Mountains" stunned the world during the World Cup in Qatar three years ago.

Then they still went all the way to the semi-finals and ultimately lost the battle for bronze against Croatia. Never before had an African nation reached this far in a World Cup.

Ranked eleventh in the world, Morocco entered the African Championships as one of the heavy favorites, but the Comoros offered resistance.

The small island nation fought back, and it was only after the break that goals came from Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi, who plays for Olympiakos. The latter was both athletic and acrobatic, with El Kaabi securing the win with a scissor kick.

Morocco is aiming for only its second victory in the championships. The first came in 1976. The chances are good. The victory against the Comoros was the 19th in a row.

Ivory Coast are the reigning champions.

In this story
AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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