Morocco U23 friendly against Tanzania cancelled before Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers

Morocco U23’s preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers have been disrupted after their final October friendly against Tanzania was cancelled.

The Lionceaux de l’Atlas had been due to host the Taifa Stars on Monday 5 October, following their 1-1 draw with Mali. The match was intended to provide one last opportunity for Morocco to fine-tune their squad before the qualifying campaign begins in November.

However, Tanzania will be unable to fulfil the fixture because five of their players are injured and have been ruled out by the team’s medical staff.

After discussions with Tanzania manager Miguel Gamondi, the parties involved agreed that the match should not go ahead.

The cancellation is a setback for Morocco, who had planned to use the second friendly of the international window to continue testing different options and assess the lessons from the draw against Mali.

The October camp was designed as the final stage of preparation before the Lionceaux move on to competitive football. With the Tanzania fixture removed from the schedule, Morocco currently have no further friendly arranged before the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in November.

Unless another match is organised before then, the 1-1 draw with Mali will remain their only test during this gathering.