Diaz stars as Morocco beat Cameroon to reach AFCON semis

Brahim Diaz kept up his remarkable Africa Cup of Nations scoring record and Ismael Saibari was also on target as hosts Morocco beat Cameroon 2-0 in their quarter-final showdown on Friday to keep their title dreams alive.

Real Madrid winger Diaz got the decisive touch to Ayoub El Kaabi’s 26th-minute header in front of more than 64,000 fans at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat.

Diaz’s fifth goal in five matches at the tournament was followed by Saibari’s strike in the second half, with Morocco well worth their victory as they progress to a semi-final against the winner of Saturday’s clash between Algeria and Nigeria.

“It is historic. Moroccans have not seen their team in the semi-finals of an AFCON for 22 years,” said coach Walid Regragui.

“They deserve it but we need to keep our feet on the ground and make this even more historic.”

Regragui was also full of praise for Diaz, adding: “Today he was the X-factor of my team. He has been amazing during the competition. Tonight the way he ran and fought send out a message to the rest of the team.”

The semi-final promises to be a stiffer test for Morocco than that posed by Cameroon, who were hoping to spring an upset having already exceeded expectations in coming this far after a troubled build-up to the tournament.

The Indomitable Lions, five-time African champions, created little with Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo struggling to make an impact.

Recently-appointed Cameroon coach David Pagou was nevertheless proud of his side in defeat.

“We are satisfied with how the boys played. We only started working with the team on December 16, not even a month ago, but they gave joy to the people of Cameroon,” Pagou said.

Morocco, Africa’s top-ranked team and World Cup semi-finalists in 2022, are under enormous pressure to win the Cup of Nations in front of their own fans, half a century after their last continental title.

There have been doubts as to whether they can handle the weight of expectation, but they remain on course to achieve their objective –- it is the first time Morocco have reached the AFCON semi-finals since they lost the 2004 final to Tunisia.

The hosts were unchanged from their 1-0 last-16 win over Tanzania as they looked to continue an unbeaten record going back to their defeat by South Africa at the 2024 AFCON.

Fresh from knocking out South Africa in the last round here, Cameroon were clearly banking on frustrating Morocco as much as possible in an attempt to turn the crowd against the home side.

Saibari seals it

Morocco were beaten by the Cameroonians in the semi-finals the last time they hosted AFCON in 1988, but a repeat outcome never really looked likely.

Cameroon were not helped by the early loss of right wing-back Jackson Tchamadeu, who tried to carry on after Noussair Mazraoui landed heavily on his knee before eventually being stretchered off.

Moments after that, Morocco scored. Achraf Hakimi sent in a corner from the right which was headed towards goal by El Kaabi at the near post, and the ball struck Diaz in the groin before going in.

That calmed a frenetic home support, who cheered their team off at the break after seeing Abde Ezzalzouli and El Kaabi come close to adding further goals.

Morocco were on top, and Cameroon’s response was to change formation after the break, from a back three to a 4-2-3-1, in an attempt to create more danger.

Ezzalzouli headed just over from a Hakimi corner, and then a cross by the Paris Saint-Germain star caused havoc in the Cameroon box as Samuel Kotto hooked the ball away from the line.

Mbeumo had appeals for a penalty dismissed by the Mauritanian referee before PSV Eindhoven’s Saibari fired in the killer second goal on 74 minutes after controlling Ezzalzouli’s dead-ball delivery, as Morocco march on to Wednesday’s semis.