Morocco vs Tanzania 17hrs
By Devesh Jaganath
One of the heavily fancied Africa Cup of Nations favourites Morocco will get their campaign underway on Wednesday evening when they take on Tanzania at Stade de San Pedro.
Group F also features two-time champions Congo DR and 2012 winners Zambia, who will face off in the other match in this group at this venue directly after the completion of this fixture.
World Cup, and the spotlight will now be on them to follow up in the continental competition, where they have a relatively disappointing track record.
After withdrawing from the 2022 African Nations Championship due to travel problems, Morocco were given a reality check last June, with two matches tempering the soaring euphoria of their World Cup semi-final achievement in Qatar.
The first was a goalless draw to Cape Verde, followed by a 2-1 loss to South Africa in qualifying for this competition, while a final wake-up call came after they were held to a 1-1 draw by the Ivory Coast in October.
Following that result, head coach Walid Regragui pointed out that he felt that the Atlas Lions were not the favourites to win the AFCON, but they won each of the three proceeding matches against Liberia (3-0), Tanzania (2-0) and Sierra Leone (3-1) last week.
Morocco have only lifted the AFCON trophy once in their history, back in 1976, but with one of the most impressive lineups on paper, this feels like their moment, and they will be under immense pressure to make a statement against a favourable opponent in their opening match on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Tanzania come into this competition ranked 31st among African footballing nations according to FIFA and are the biggest outsiders to qualify for the knockout stages from Group F.
The Taifa Stars are set to make their third appearance in the AFCON, having previously participated in the 1980 and 2019 editions. Their last stint in the tournament saw them facing defeats in all three of their matches.
However, under the leadership of Algerian coach Adel Amrouche, expectations are high that the Taifa Stars will showcase an improved performance compared to their previous outing, albeit that they will likely be targeting Congo DR and Zambia as matches they could take something from.
Tanzania earned qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations by securing a heroic 0-0 draw against Algeria in their final qualification match, displaying resilience and determination to frustrate their illustrious opponent and secure the crucial point needed for advancement while holding off Uganda and Niger in the process.
Since then, The Taifa Stars have played a total of four matches, which saw them manage one win over Niger (1-0) and a draw against Sudan (1-1) before suffering back-to-back defeats against the Atlas Lions and Egypt, both by a scoreline of 2-0.
Team News
For Morocco, Bayern Munich defender Noussair Mazraoui carried an injury into the tournament and is a doubt to feature here, which should lead to Attiat Allah stepping in as his replacement at left-back.
Hakim Ziyech scored for the Atlas Lions against Tanzania in November and will be a key player in the side’s midfield alongside Manchester United’s Sofyan Amrabat and Marseille’s Azzedine Ounahi.
Morocco possess a start-studded backline that is likely to feature Yassine Bounou in goal, with Nayef Aguerd and Romain Saiss in central defence, while Achraf Hakimi should line up at right full-back.
Amrouche has called upon Haji Mnoga and Ben Starkie, who play in the English non-league with Aldershot Town and Ilkeston Town respectively, to represent the country at this year’s tournament, and the pair are expected to feature in the starting squad.
PAOK attacker Mbwana Samatta has been pinpointed as a potential key player for The Taifa Stars in the competition. The former Genk, Fenerbahce and Aston Villa striker has notched up two goals and two assists in 14 Greek Super League matches this season.
Morocco possible starting lineup:
Bounou; Hakimi, Aguerd, Saiss, Allah; Amrabat, Ziyech, Ounahi, Harit, Adli; En-Nesyri
Tanzania possible starting lineup:
Kamawa; Mnoga, Mwaikenda, Mwamnyeto, Hamad, Yahya; Salum, Mao, Yassin, Msuva; Samatta
Sportsmole
Preview: Congo DR vs. Zambia 20hrs
The first round of matches in the Africa Cup of Nations will draw to a close when Congo DR face off against Zambia at Stade de San Pedro on Wednesday evening.
Group F looks like it could be a difficult one to navigate for these two and features African powerhouse Morocco and the plucky Tanzania, who will contest the other match in this group at this venue earlier in the day.
Congo DR have slipped from the spotlight in recent years and will come into this year’s tournament hopeful of lifting the AFCON title for the first time in five decades.
The Leopards have earned two continental titles in their storied history, with the last triumph coming back in 1974 when they were still known as Zaire, while their previous victory was earned in 1968.
In more recent times, Congo have struggled to make an impact on the continental stage, suffering three group-stage exits since 2000 and failing to qualify for three consecutive Africa Cup of Nations tournaments between 2008 and 2012.
They were in real danger of missing out on this year’s competition as well, as they lost their first two qualifying matches, which led to the sacking of Hector Cuper, but that seemed to have marked something of a turning point for the side.
Sebastien Desabre was appointed to lead the team through the remaining qualification matches, and the Frenchman did just that as his side clinched four consecutive victories to top their group, which included Gabon, Sudan and Mauritania.
Since then, though, The Leopards have been less impressive, winning just one of their next seven matches, while they enter this one winless in their last three, which included losses to Sudan (1-0) and Burkina Faso (2-1), while they were held to a stalemate by Angola in their first warm-up match on January 6.
The last time these sides met, the match ended in a 1-1 draw, which marked the fourth drawn result between these teams in five matches, while the one win in that time went to Zambia 4-1 back in 2005.
Zambia’s Africa Cup of Nations history is a strange one since the last time that they ever won a match in the continental tournament was when they lifted the trophy back in February 2012.
Chipolopolo failed to muster much of a title defence, though, exiting in the group stages of each of the next two competitions while failing to even qualify for the following three editions leading up to this one.
Nevertheless, now under the guidance of former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, Zambia could be one of the dark horses in this competition and have improved notably over the last year.
Grant’s side were very impressive during the 2023 COSAFA Cup, where they finished second in their group but rose to win the competition, beating Lesotho 1-0 in the final thanks to a decisive goal by Moyela Libamba.
Since that result, Chipolopolo have played six matches, splitting them with two wins, two losses and two draws, with their most recent match ending in a 1-1 draw against Cameroon in their sole warm-up match last week.
Team News
Desabre was handed a major injury blow just weeks before his side left for the Ivory Coast, as Watford midfielder Edo Kayembe was forced to withdraw from the team after sustaining an injury in The Hornets’ 3-3 draw against Plymouth Argyle at the start of the New Year.
Galatasaray’s Cedric Bakambu and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa are expected to spearhead the side’s attacking effort, while Dylan Batubinsika will be forced to sit out this match, having received two yellows in the team’s final qualifying match.
Ayr United defender Frankie Musonda’s fitness was in doubt in the lead-up to the competition, but he has been passed fit for the match and will be eligible to feature in Grant’s starting 11.
Leicester City forward Patson Daka and Al-Fayha attacker Fashion Sakala were part of the Zambia side that won their Under-20 AFCON in 2017, and the pair will be expected to lead their side’s attacking endeavour with Enock Mwepu now retired from all forms of football due to a heart condition.
Congo DR possible starting lineup:
M’Pasi; Masuaku, Kiranga, Mbemba, Kalulu; Kakuta, Moutoussamy, Pickel, Wissa; Bongonda, Bakambu
Zambia possible starting lineup:
Mulenga; Phiri, Sunzu, Mwape, Musonda; Kapumbu, Mafwenta, Chilufya, Banda; Daka, Sakala
