The clash between the Moroccan national team and its Tanzanian counterpart today in the context of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire is not the first in their history.
In fact, the teams have met five times in either AFCON or World Cup qualifiers.
Today’s match is the second encounter within two months between “The Lions” and the “Taifa Stars.”
They previously faced off in November of the previous year during the World Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, where Morocco secured a 2-0 victory with goals from Hakim Ziyech and Tanzanian defender Bakari Mwamnyeto, who unfortunately scored an own goal.
Reflecting on their initial encounters, the national team won away from home with a solitary goal by Monir El Hamdaoui in the second round of the qualifiers for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Subsequently, in the sixth round, Morocco triumphed again with a 3-1 scoreline, with Marouane Chamakh, Adel Taarabt, and M’barek Boussoufa finding the net.
The only victory for the Tanzanian national team dates back to 2013, during the qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup, where they won 3-1.
Youssef El-Arabi scored the lone goal for Morocco.
However, the return leg favored “The Lions” with a 2-1 victory, as both Abdelrazzak Hamdallah and El-Arabi secured the win, leading to Tanzania’s elimination from the qualifiers after finishing second behind Ivory Coast.
The Morocco vs. Tanzania match, part of Group Six in the AFCON group stage, kicks off at 6:00 PM at Laurent Pokou Stadium in San Pedro, Ivory Coast.
