Rabat: Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday. Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.

According to France24.com, substitute El Kaabi then got the second with an overhead kick, and the victory sets the Atlas Lions up for potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia. The result also allowed Morocco, Africa’s best team in the FIFA rankings at 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches. The game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.

Morocco’s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi watched the entire game from
the bench, with coach Walid Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November. It looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed. But Rahimi’s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.

However, Morocco, who also saw veteran center-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time. Comoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago ranked 108th in the world, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes. Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet fully fit, delivered a pass that allowed Real Madrid’s Spanish-born number 10, Diaz, to score.

Morocco, w
ho had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up. Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal. Mazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, met a cross from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a bicycle kick to make it 2-0.

Morocco’s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday. Elsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakesh before Mohamed Salah’s Egypt, the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010, get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B. This edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.