Brahim Diaz scored his fourth goal for Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to take the hosts into the quarter-finals with a nervy 1-0 Round of 16 win over Tanzania in Rabat on Sunday.
Morocco dominated possession but Tanzania also had chances and it took a fine strike from Diaz to secure a place in the last eight and a meeting with the winner of Sunday’s second match between South Africa and Cameroon.
Captain Achraf Hakimi fed Diaz from the right side of the penalty area in the 64th minute, and the Real Madrid playmaker muscled his way to the byline before firing into the goal from a tight angle when most people were expecting a cross.
Morocco missed a number of other chances but were also fortunate as Tanzania were also wasteful, with Simon Msuva and Feisal Salum missing golden chances for the East Africans with the score at 0-0.
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It was far from an excellent performance from the home side, who are yet to hit top gear at the tournament, but did enough to keep the campaign on track.
Tanzania had an early chance when Msuva had an open goal to head into, but he could only steer his effort wide.
Morocco got the ball in the back of the net after an Ismael Saibari header from a free kick, but he was narrowly offside.
Ayoub El Kaabi then headed wide for the home side when he should have done better, before following up with another missed opportunity from Hakimi’s delightful cross.
Tanzania should have taken the lead in the 55th minute as home goalkeeper Yassine Bounou could only parry a long-range shot and the ball fell to Salum, who fired over the crossbar from 10 yards with the goal gaping.
Hakimi then crashed a free-kick into the frame of the goal, before Morocco finally scored to calm the nerves at the Stade Moulay Abdellah.
Diaz scored for the fourth consecutive game at the tournament, the first Moroccan to do so at a Cup of Nations.
Published on January 4, 2026
