Tournament favourites Morocco will get their AFCON 2023 campaign underway on Wednesday evening when they take on Tanzania at Stade de San Pedro in Cote d’Ivoire.
The Moroccans raised the bar for African football a little over a year ago at the 2022 World Cup, and the spotlight will now be on them to follow up in the biggest continental sporting showpiece, where they have a relatively disappointing track record.
After withdrawing from the 2022 African Nations tournament due to travel problems, Morocco were given a reality check last June, with two matches tampering 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.
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.
