Morocco also suffered an early setback when centre-back Romain Saïss was forced off with injury, replaced by Jawad El Yamiq. Backed by massive infrastructure investments ahead of co-hosting the 2030 World Cup, the Atlas Lions—Africa’s top-ranked team since their historic 2022 World Cup semifinal run—navigated a potential banana skin against Stefano Cusin’s stubborn Comoros. Tougher challenges await, starting with Mali on Friday (20:00 GMT) in Group A. Comoros showed promising signs in only their second AFCON appearance and will look to build on this performance. Monday features three matches: Mali vs Zambia (Group A), followed by Egypt and South Africa beginning their Group B campaigns. The tournament, now set to shift to every four years from 2028, runs until January 18, 2026.

Source: The Guardian December 21, 2025 21:44 UTC