Hosts Morocco and knockout-round debutants Tanzania meet in a high-stakes Round of 16 clash at the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah on 4 January. Kick-off is at 17h00 local time (16h00 GMT).

This is the second AFCON meeting between the two nations, following their group-stage encounter at the 2023 edition. Morocco won that match 3-0 and went on to finish as group winners, while Tanzania ended bottom of the group.

Tanzania are facing a host nation for the second time at AFCON, having previously lost 3-1 to Nigeria in Lagos in their opening match of the 1980 tournament.

Overall, the sides have met eight times in all competitions. Morocco have won seven of those meetings, including the last five in succession, while Tanzania have recorded one victory. There have been no draws. Morocco have scored in all eight meetings and have kept all five clean sheets recorded in the fixture. Tanzania have failed to score in their last four matches against Morocco.

Tanzania’s only win over Morocco came in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier, a 3-1 home victory on 24 March 2013 in Dar es Salaam. Thomas Ulimwengu and a brace from Mbwana Samatta secured the win, while Youssef El Arabi scored Morocco’s consolation goal in the 90th minute. Morocco won the return fixture 2-1 at home in June 2013, though neither team qualified for the tournament in Brazil.

The teams were also drawn together in qualifying for the 2012 AFCON, with Morocco winning 1-0 away and 3-1 at home to qualify ahead of Tanzania. They later met in qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Morocco winning 2-0 away on 21 November 2023, Hakim Ziyech scoring in the 28th minute before Bakari Mwamnyeto put through his own goal in the 54th. Morocco won the return fixture 2-0 in Oujda on 25 March 2025, with goals from Nayef Aguerd in the 51st minute and Brahim Diaz from the penalty spot in the 58th.

Their most recent meeting came in the quarter-finals of the 2024 TotalEnergies African Nations Championship on 22 August 2025, where Morocco went on to win the title after defeating co-hosts Tanzania 1-0, Oussama Lamiloui scoring the winning goal in the 65th minute.

This is Tanzania’s fifth meeting with a North African team at AFCON. They lost their first three such encounters against Egypt in 1980, Algeria in 2019 and Morocco in 2023, before drawing with Tunisia at the current edition. Tanzania have conceded a goal in each of their four AFCON matches against North African opposition.

Morocco are the second team Tanzania have faced twice at AFCON, after Nigeria, whom they met in 1980 and again at the current edition.



PAST MEETINGS
OVERALLMorocco – P8 W7 D0 L1 GF15 GA5 GD+10
Tanzania – P8 W1 D0 L7 GF5 GA15 GD-10

AFCON ONLY
Morocco – P1 W1 D0 L0 GF3 GA0 GD+3
Tanzania – P1 W0 D0 L1 GF0 GA3 GD-3



PAST AFCON MEETINGS
2023, Group F, 17 January 2024
Morocco 3 (Saïss 30’, Ounahi 77’, En-Nesyri 80’) Tanzania 0



Morocco – Key Statistics
· Appearing in the Round of 16 for the fourth time

· Have progressed past this stage once, in 2021

· Eliminated at the Round of 16 in 2019 and 2023

· Lost 1-1 to Benin in the 2019 Round of 16 before a 4-1 defeat on penalties after extra time

· Benin scored first in the 53rd minute, En-Nesyri equalised in the 76th minute and later missed his penalty in the shoot-out

· Defeated Malawi 2-1 in the 2021 Round of 16 after coming from behind

· Gabadinho Mhango scored for Malawi in the 7th minute

· En-Nesyri equalised in first-half stoppage time, Achraf Hakimi scored the winner in the 70th minute

· Lost 2-0 to South Africa in the 2023 Round of 16

· Have conceded first in all three previous Round of 16 matches

· Victory would take them to the quarter-finals for the fifth time (1998, 2004, 2017, 2021)

· Have lost their last two direct knockout games, against Egypt in the 2021 quarter-finals and South Africa in the 2023 Round of 16

· Their win over Malawi in 2021 is their only victory in their last five knockout matches

· In that period, lost the 2004 final to Tunisia, the 2019 Round of 16 to Benin on penalties, the 2021 quarter-final to Egypt and the 2023 Round of 16 to South Africa

· Have conceded in each of their last five knockout matches

· Last clean sheet in knockout football came in a 4-0 semi-final win over Mali in 2004

· That remains their only clean sheet in their last 12 knockout matches

· Have kept just two clean sheets in 14 knockout matches, also recording one in a 2-0 win over Egypt in the 1980 third-place match

· Have contested two penalty shoot-outs at AFCON and lost both, against Algeria in 1988 and Benin in 2019

· Defeated Algeria 3-1 after extra time in the 2004 quarter-final

· Conceded in the 84th minute, equalised through Marouane Chamakh in stoppage time

· Goals from Youssef Hadji (113’) and Jaouad Zairi (120’) sealed the win

· Lost 2-1 to Egypt after extra time in the 2021 quarter-final

· Led through Sofiane Boufal in the 7th minute

· Mohamed Salah equalised in the 53rd minute and Trézéguet scored the winner in the 100th

· Brahim Diaz has scored in all three matches at the current edition

· Only the second Moroccan player to score in three successive AFCON matches, after Ahmed Faras (1972, 1976)

· Diaz could become the first Moroccan to score in four successive AFCON matches

· Diaz and Ayoub El Kaabi have both scored three goals at the tournament

· Either player scoring again would set a new Moroccan record for goals at a single edition

· Azzedine Ounahi registered two assists against Zambia, the most by any Moroccan player at the tournament

· Morocco faced no shots on target against Zambia while recording nine themselves

· El Kaabi scored twice from three shots on target against Zambia

· Diaz attempted five shots, two on target

· Morocco have recorded 20 shots on target at the tournament, scoring six goals (16% conversion rate)

· No team has attempted more passes than Morocco (1,581)



Tanzania – Key Statistics
· Reached the Round of 16 after drawing 1-1 with Tunisia in their final group match

· Have qualified for the knockout rounds for the first time

· Progressed with two points, the lowest total for a team advancing since best third-placed teams were introduced in 2019

· Have avoided defeat in two matches at the current edition, matching their best previous return (2023)

· Have lost just one of their last five AFCON matches (D4), against Nigeria

· Prior to this run, had lost four consecutive AFCON matches

· Have scored in all three group matches, only the second time they have done so after 1980

· Have scored in four of their last five AFCON matches

· Remain winless after 12 AFCON matches, tied with Guinea-Bissau for the longest winless run by a team

· All three goals at the current edition were scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half

· Opponents have hit the woodwork in each of Tanzania’s three group matches

· Feisal Salum became the first domestically based Tanzanian player to score at AFCON since Thuwein Waziri in 1980

· Waziri scored in a 1-1 draw against Côte d’Ivoire in their final group match in 1980

· Salum, Waziri and Juma Mkambi are the only Tanzanian players to score at AFCON while playing domestically

· Novatus Miroshi registered his second assist of the tournament against Tunisia

· Both shots on target against Tunisia were attempted by Salum

· Tanzania have recorded 15 shots on target across three matches, scoring three goals (14% conversion rate)

· Had just 36% possession against Tunisia

· Completed only 206 passes against Tunisia