Morocco begin Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Gabon

Morocco begin their bid to qualify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations at home to Gabon at Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah on Friday evening, less than three months after their run at the World Cup ended in the quarter-finals.

The Atlas Lions are joined by Lesotho, who were also in their qualifying group for CAN2025, with Niger completing Group A for this campaign. Morocco were unbeaten in the 2025 qualifying group stage and will expect to make a strong start against a Gabon side they beat 4-1 and 5-1 in their two meetings last time.

Mohamed Ouahbi has had limited time to shape the team since taking charge in March, following Walid Regragui’s departure after Morocco’s controversial CAN2025 final against Senegal. The 49-year-old had previously guided Morocco’s Under-20 side to the world title in Chile.

Morocco had been awarded a 3-0 victory over Senegal for January’s continental final after a CAF decision, but they also provided a response on the pitch at the World Cup. They drew with Brazil in their opening match, then defeated Scotland and Haiti to finish second in Group C.

Their tournament ended with a 2-0 defeat by France in the last eight. Before that, victories on penalties against the Netherlands in the last 16 and Canada in the round of 16 had secured another memorable campaign. Ranked sixth in the world by FIFA, Morocco have not lost at home in normal time since a 3-1 friendly defeat by Burkina Faso in July 2025, including their CAN2025 matches at this stadium.

Gabon qualified for CAN2025 after finishing second in their group, but lost all three matches at the finals against Cameroon, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire. Their World Cup qualifying campaign was more encouraging: they finished second behind Cote d’Ivoire before losing 4-1 after extra time to Nigeria in the play-offs.

The 84th-ranked nation have lost five of their past six matches, with their only victory coming on penalties against Trinidad and Tobago after a 2-2 draw. New manager Sebastien Migne must improve their consistency and rebuild an attack following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s international retirement.

Morocco are without suspended captain Achraf Hakimi and Ismael Saibari, who were sanctioned by CAF after the CAN2025 final. Ayoub El Kaabi, Chadi Riad, Youssef Belammari, Youssef En-Nesyri and Hamza Igamane are also unavailable through injury or a lack of match fitness, while Sofyan Amrabat has made himself unavailable. Noussair Mazraoui, Brahim Diaz and Soufiane Rahimi remain among the experienced options.

Gabon will be missing injured Mario Lemina and Jim Allevinah, replaced by Clech Loufilou and Randy Essang Matouti. Denis Bouanga and Rody Junior Effaghe are expected to lead the attack, supported by Aaron Appindangoye, Anthony Oyono, Guelor Kanga and Didier Ndong.

Probable teams

Morocco: Bounou; Mazraoui, Aguerd, Diop, Salah-Eddine; Ounahi, El Aynaoui; Brahim Diaz, El Khannouss, Ezzalzouli; Rahimi.

Gabon: Amonome; A. Oyono, Appindangoye, J. Oyono, Ekomie; Poko, Kanga, Ndong; Bouanga, Babicka, Effaghe.

Morocco’s attacking options and squad depth make a 2-0 home win the predicted outcome. The exact-score selection is priced at 5.00, while fewer than 2.5 goals is priced at 2.10 and both teams not to score at 1.48.