Morocco vs Mozambique

Morocco was one of four teams to have been eliminated after playing two games at the past Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). This time, Morocco hopes it is not two-and-done again, as it must face Mozambique, with a spot at AFCON 2013 at stake for the winner.

Morocco’s history in football has endured a rollercoaster since the 1970s. The country won AFCON 1976, and ten years later, Morocco became the first African nation to reach the knockout stages of the World Cup. In the years following World Cup 1986, Morocco would finish second in AFCON 2004, and consecutive fourth-place finishes in AFCON 1986 and 1988.

But for its successes, Morocco has endured the agony of heartbreak. In 1998, Morocco nearly reached the Round of 16 in World Cup 1998, only for Norway to beat Brazil and pip Morocco. After losing the final to Tunisia in AFCON 2004, Morocco finished second in its qualifying group to Tunisia to miss out on the 2006 FIFA World Cup, despite being the only African nation to have not lost a game in the final round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Morocco started strong in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (doubled with that of AFCON 2010), but fell completely flat in a group containing Cameroon, Gabon and Togo. Morocco finished last, and failed to qualify for AFCON 2010.

Despite some shaky performances, Houssine Kharja and Marouane Chamakh helped propel Morocco to a spot at AFCON 2012, winning their final qualifying game against Tanzania 3-0 on the final day of qualifying. However, in AFCON 2012, Morocco would be heartbroken yet again, particularly in their second group stage match against Gabon. Kharja had scored in stoppage goal for what looked like a valuable point, only for Gabon to score in the dying seconds to eliminate Morocco.

Since reaching its first AFCON in 1986, Mozambique has endured a roller-coaster ride in its football history. The country did make some progress in their last World Cup qualifying campaign: the most notable result came in their last group stage game in qualifying, when they defeated Tunisia 1-0 victory to Nigeria to qualify for the World Cup at Tunisia’s expense.

Reaching this part and qualifying for AFCON 2010 was amazing, given that Mozambique had a horrible start to qualifying and were the last of the eight second best runners-up in World Cup qualifying.

With the country’s most prolific scorer retired, Mozambique struggled in qualifying for AFCON 2012, as the country managed to score all four goals against Comoros. Mozambique finished behind Libya and eventual champions Zambia.

Domingues, helped Mozambique reach this matchup as winning penalty kick in the shootout against Tanzania after both legs were tied 1-1, with Mozambique winning the shootout at home 8-7.

Morocco and Mozambique had only met once prior, and that came at AFCON 1998 in the group stage. Morocco defeated Mozambique 2-0 in Burkina Faso, eliminating Mozambique from AFCON 1998.

Can Morocco reach AFCON 2013 and make a statement to reach a final for the first time since 2004? The answer will come this October.