RABAT: Brahim Diaz scored his fourth goal for Morocco at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations to put the hosts into the quarter-finals with a nervous 1-0 Round-of-16 victory over Tanzania in Rabat on Sunday.
Morocco dominated possession but Tanzania had opportunities too, and it took a fine strike from Diaz to book a place in the last eight and a meeting with the winners of Sunday’s second fixture between South Africa and Cameroon.
Captain Achraf Hakimi fed Diaz on the right side of the box on 64 minutes and the Real Madrid playmaker worked his way to the byline, before firing into the goal from a tight angle when most expected a cross.
Morocco wasted several other chances but were also fortunate that Tanzania were wasteful too, with Simon Msuva and Feisal Salum missing gilt-edged opportunities for the East Africans with the score at 0-0.
It was a far from vintage performance from the home side, who have yet to click into top gear at the tournament but did enough to keep their campaign on track.
“The competition is hotting up and we faced our toughest opponent in this Tanzania team,” Diaz said.
“Not everything worked, we know that, but fortunately we managed to secure our qualification (to the next round). Now, we are going back to work to be fully ready for the quarter-finals.”
Tanzania had an early opportunity when Msuva had an open goal to head into, but he could only steer his effort well wide.
Morocco had the ball in the back of the net from Ismael Saibari’s 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, and followed that up with another missed opportunity from Hakimi’s delightful cross.
Tanzania should have been ahead on 55 minutes as home goalkeeper Yassine Bounou could only parry a long-range shot and the ball fell to Salum, who blasted over the crossbar from 10 meters with the goal gaping.
Hakimi then crashed a free kick against the frame of the goal, before Morocco finally scored to settle the nerves in the Stade Moulay Abdellah.
Diaz delight as Morocco advance to AFCON quarter-finals
https://arab.news/ctmkq
Diaz delight as Morocco advance to AFCON quarter-finals
- Diaz scores for fourth game in a row
- Morocco book quarter-final place with 1-0 win
Drake Maye aims to do what Tom Brady couldn’t with the Patriots: win a playoff game in Denver
FOXBOROUGH, Mass.: Drake Maye has a chance to accomplish something not even Tom Brady did with the Patriots.
Maye is hoping to beat the Broncos in the AFC championship game in Denver on Sunday and lead New England to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018. The Patriots have never won a playoff game in Denver — losing all four tries, with Brady going 0-3.
“Just the AFC championship, the chance to go to the Super Bowl. That’d be huge,” Maye said. “Another road environment that’s had success in the past. … I know it would be a big-time win.”
The Patriots advanced to their 14th AFC championship game in the last 25 years on Sunday when they beat the Houston Texans 28-16 in Foxborough. Denver beat Buffalo 33-30 to reach the conference title game.
New England and Denver both finished 14-3 in the regular season, but the Broncos won the tiebreaker for home-field advantage because they had a better record against common opponents: Denver beat the Raiders twice this season but the Patriots lost to them.
That loss — to the worst team in the NFL in the first game of the Mike Vrabel era — sent New England into one of the most inhospitable environments in the league. In addition to the high-energy crowd, the Patriots will also have to contend with a low-oxygen environment that they won’t have a chance to acclimate to.
“Kind of what we’ve been doing on the road all season long,” said Maye, who has guided the Patriots to an 8-0 road record this season. “They’ve got a great team, so we’re going to have a tough challenge. But I’m looking forward to getting out there. And getting a chance to possibly celebrate on an away field would be pretty special.”
The last team to go undefeated on the road with a new head coach was the San Francisco 49ers under George Seifert in 1989; they won the Super Bowl.
“Coach has always been saying, ‘Road warriors,’” Maye said. “So, we’re trying to find that one more time and finish out strong what we’ve done this year.”
The Broncos are 18-5 in home playoff games all-time. But they’ll will be without starting quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his ankle near the end of the divisional round victory over Buffalo. Instead, the offense will be led by former Patriot Jarrett Stidham, who hasn’t thrown a pass since 2023.
That’s why New England opened as a 5½-point favorite — the biggest road favorite ever in a conference championship game. The line has since moved to Denver plus-4½.
“We always feel as though no matter what anyone else has to say, we still have something to prove,” said cornerback Marcus Jones, who returned an interception for a touchdown against Houston. “We’re trying to always prove ourselves right and not trying to prove other people wrong. That’s kind of the philosophy we’ve had for a long time.”
Win or lose, the Patriots could have trouble getting back to New England: A major snowstorm is expected to dump a foot or more of snow on the area.
Vrabel said the team is prepared if it can’t leave Denver on Sunday night.
“We have multiple plans of what could go on based on the weather. something that they’re familiar with here,” he said. “I mean, there’s things I can control, that I can’t control.”
