Tanzania Stuns Morocco: AFCON Knockout Drought Continues for Regragui's Side
4 January 2026
Match Snapshot
The first half ended goalless as Tanzania's disciplined defense tested Morocco coach Walid Regragui in the Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.
Tanzania forced Regragui into another repeating negative stat by denying a breakthrough before the break.
Regragui again failed to see his side break the deadlock before halftime, a drought echoed from the Ivory Coast edition when Morocco were eliminated by South Africa, with Mokwena scoring the decisive goal.
Regragui becomes the first Moroccan coach to guide the side to two consecutive knockout appearances at AFCON, and against Tanzania he matched the eight-game CAN tally set by Henry Michel and Hervé Renard by playing eight straight CAN games.
What it means
The run of goalless first halves against Tanzania marks the fourth straight meeting without a Moroccan goal before the break, after a 3-0 group-stage win in the previous edition and a 2-0 away and home in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers—all earlier occasions saw Morocco scoring before halftime.
The second half awaits, with Morocco needing a spark to progress and Tanzania eyeing another test of their compact, disciplined defense.
Punchlines: The Moroccan attack is so precise it keeps missing the target on purpose—talk about a near-miss masterclass. And if scoring were a sniper sport, Regragui’s team forgot to load the bullets; tonight, the net stayed stubbornly quiet.
