Morocco kicks off its African Cup of Nations campaign with a victory and a strong performance against Comoros
Morocco made a winning start to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations thanks to a 2-0 victory over the Comoros in the first match of the competition played at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the Moroccan capital.
The Moroccan team entered the tournament as hosts and favourites to win the title thanks to their strong performance in recent years under coach Walid Regragui and a team featuring key players such as Yassine Bounou, Brahim Díaz, Achraf Hakimi, Youssef En-Nesyri and Ayoub El Kaabi.
The Comoros national team was considered the weakest team in the tournament, given its lack of international relevance in football. However, it is ranked 108th in the world by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the highest governing body in world football.
Meanwhile, Morocco entered the African Cup of Nations in good form after reaching the semi-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and after sweeping their qualifying groups in the African zone for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and precisely for this African Cup of Nations, which they are hosting.
Despite everything, the Comoros team put up a fight and showed total resistance to Morocco's offensive play, which went for victory from the first minute of the match, completely dominating the game. tro.
The Comoros Islands applied themselves in defence and held out for much of the match with the score at 0-0, thanks in particular to the performance of goalkeeper Yannick Pandor, who made several impressive saves on various occasions when the home side threatened to score. In fact, Pandor saved a penalty from Soufiane Rahimi in the 11th minute, which was awarded for a foul on home striker Brahim Díaz.
Morocco failed to take advantage of this opportunity to have a more comfortable game from the start, and the situation became increasingly complicated until the first goal of the match came in the 54th minute, scored by Brahim Díaz, the Spanish-Moroccan Real Madrid player and one of Morocco's biggest stars, alongside the recently recovered Paris Saint Germain footballer Achraf Hakimi, who was on the bench after recovering from an ankle injury sustained in his team's Champions League match against Bayern Munich, following a hard tackle by Colombian international Luis Díaz. Brahim fired an unstoppable right-footed shot that beat Pandor to put Morocco ahead.
Morocco's victory was sealed in the 73rd minute with a second goal from Greek Olympiacos striker Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored with a beautiful acrobatic finish after a cross from Olympique de Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd.
Following this victory, Morocco will continue their tournament schedule by facing Mali and Zambia, the other two teams in Group A, which includes the Atlas Lions. The Moroccan team will play against Mali on 26 December and against Zambia on 29 December.
Opening of the match with Prince Moulay El Hassan
The match between Morocco and Comoros was the opening match of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and was a cause for celebration for Moroccan fans.
Before the match, the opening ceremony took place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, attended by Prince Moulay El Hassan, son of King Mohammed VI, who also had the opportunity to take the ceremonial kick-off.
The ceremony was moving and attractive, although it was somewhat marred by the rain.
Morocco thus began its journey in the Africa Cup of Nations, in which it is the favourite to win the African championship title, something it has not achieved since 1976.
The country with the most championship titles is Egypt, with seven, and the current champion is Ivory Coast, winner of the 2023 edition, which was held in Ivory Coast.