{"id":6186,"date":"2025-12-22T04:25:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T04:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6186"},"modified":"2025-12-22T04:25:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T04:25:47","slug":"morocco-seal-afcon-win-against-comoros-in-2025-opener-football-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=6186","title":{"rendered":"Morocco seal AFCON win against Comoros in 2025 opener | Football News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Host nation Morocco overcome a spirited challenge by Africa Cup of Nations minnows Comoros to kick off the tournament.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 22 Dec 2025<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">22 Dec 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts Morocco overcame a nervy start to beat the Comoros 2-0 in the tournament\u2019s opening game on Sunday, after Brahim Diaz and substitute Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals.<\/p>\n<p>It was a far-from-convincing showing from the highly fancied Morocco, who are \u206097 places above the small Indian Ocean island nation in the world rankings and had to toil hard for the \u200bpoints in the rain at Rabat\u2019s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Morocco squandered an early penalty and \u200dwere goalless at halftime, despite dominating possession, eventually breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute, when Noussair Mazraoui did well to keep the ball from going out of play before passing it square for Diaz to side-foot home.<\/p>\n<p>El Kaabi scored a trademark bicycle kick goal \u200din the 74th \u2060minute, 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, to ease the tension.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco looked initially to be labouring under a heavy burden of expectation, and tiny Comoros comfortably held them at bay before the superior firepower of the hosts ensured victory.<\/p>\n<p>The hosts could have been ahead as early as the 11th minute after a soft penalty was awarded for a challenge by Iyad Mohamed on Diaz. But Soufiane Rahimi hit the spot kick straight down the middle, striking the knee of goalkeeper Yannick Pandor and watching the ball loop away \u200bto safety.<\/p>\n<p>But they eventually broke down the resistance, as Diaz got deserved rewards for \u200chis continual probing and El Kaabi\u2019s goal ensured a respectable scoreline.<\/p>\n<p>Pandor made several other good stops to keep down the score in the closing stages as his teammates began to tire, although Comoros had a chance for an equaliser four minutes after Diaz\u2019s goal, but Rafiki Said \u200cshot straight at Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in their first chance of the match.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4189037\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4189037\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4189037\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251221__88TC6MF__v2__HighRes__TopshotFblAfr2025Match01MarCom-1766366584.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Ayoub El Kaabi in action.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4189037\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ayoub El Kaabi scores Morocco\u2019s second goal in the 74th minute [Abdel Majid Bziouat\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"difficult-opening-game\">\u2018Difficult\u2019 opening game<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThe opening game is always difficult, but \u200cwe came good in the second half,\u201d said Morocco coach Walid Regragui. \u2060<\/p>\n<p>Morocco extended their record-breaking run of successive victories by a national team to 19. In October, they went past the previous best of 15, set by Spain from 2008-09.<\/p>\n<p>There will be concern in the home camp, however, after captain Romain Saiss limped off after 18 minutes, with the centre \u200cback leaving the field in tears. He spent the first half of the year sidelined by ankle surgery and only last month returned to the national side after a year\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n<p>Mali and Zambia meet on Monday in the next \u200dGroup A clash in Casablanca on the second day of the monthlong tournament. There are also two Group B matches as Angola meet South Africa in Marrakesh, and Mohamed Salah leads Egypt against Zimbabwe in Agadir.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Host nation Morocco overcome a spirited challenge by Africa Cup of Nations minnows Comoros to kick off the tournament. Published On 22 Dec 202522 Dec 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts Morocco overcame a nervy start to beat the Comoros 2-0 in the tournament\u2019s opening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}