Africa Cup of Nations qualification for Morocco after a historic performance from the Real Madrid player
Article by Adrian Duţă – Published on Sunday, 04 January 2026, 20:34 / Updated on Sunday, 04 January 2026 20:36
Moroccothe host country of the African Cup of Nations, qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition after defeating Tanzania with 1-0 in the eighth.
The hero of the Atlas Lions was Real Madrid's Brahim Díaz, who scored in the 64th minute. The attacking midfielder thus became the first footballer in the history of Morocco to score in four consecutive matches at the Africa Cup of Nations
Morocco continues its unbeaten run and is in the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations
Thus, Morocco's invincibility streak has reached 21 consecutive matches without defeat (19 wins and 2 draws), according to sportal.bg. And Walid Regragui's team awaits the winner between South Africa and Cameroon in the next phase. Tanzania, on the other hand, caused serious problems for the hosts and go home with their heads held high.
The first half did not offer many scoring opportunities, with the hosts having a territorial dominance but having difficulty creating dangerous situations. In the 15th minute, the Moroccans saw themselves in the lead for a moment, after Ismael Saibari headed in a cross from a free kick.
Their joy was short-lived, however, as, after consultation with VAR, the goal was disallowed for offside. Until the end of the first part, nothing notable happened.
With the beginning of the second half, the pressure of the “Atlas Lions” intensified. Ayoub El Kaabi missed a good opportunity with his header from a good position and in the 60th minute, Achraf Hakimi sent the ball over the crossbar from a free kick. Faisal Salum also missed a good opportunity for the visitors, shooting wide from the box.
Brahim Diaz scored the qualifying goal
However, Tanzania's well-organized defense gave way in the 64th minute. Then, Achraf Hakimi advanced down the right and found Brahim Díaz, who advanced and, with a diagonal shot and a not-so-happy intervention by Hussein Masaranga, scored in the fourth consecutive match of the tournament: 1-0 for Morocco.
Until the end of the match, the most interesting moment was represented by Tanzania's claims for a penalty in the last seconds, which were not taken into account by the main referee.
