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The Morocco overcame a anxious start to defeat Comoros in the tournament's inaugural fixture on Sunday, with goals from Brahim Díaz and super-sub El Kaabi in the latter period.

It was a far from convincing performance, however, from the strongly favored Moroccans, who are ranked 97 places above the small Indian Ocean nation in the world rankings and had to work tirelessly for the points in wet conditions at Rabat's national stadium.

Tense Start and Missed Chances

Morocco missed an first-half penalty and were locked at 0-0 at half-time even with dominating the ball, finally breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

It arrived after full-back Mazraoui showed great skill to keep the ball in play before slipping it square for Díaz to calmly pass into the net.

“The first match is invariably tough but we delivered in the second period,” said manager Walid Regragui.

El Kaabi's Piece of Brilliance

Any lingering nerves was then calmed by a moment of pure individual brilliance from substitute El Kaabi. Only ten minutes following his introduction, the forward connected with a ball into the box with a spectacular bicycle kick in the 74th minute, doubling and sealing the win.

Earlier in the match, the Moroccan team might have taken the lead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was given for a foul on Díaz. Yet, Rahimi's penalty was saved by Comoros goalkeeper Yannick Pandor.

The Visitors' Defiant Stand and Late Chance

The underdogs comfortably held their more illustrious opponents for long periods before the Moroccans' greater quality in the end made the difference.

Goalkeeper Pandor pulled off several other good stops to limit the score as the match wore on, although Comoros did have a chance for an equaliser shortly after the first goal, with Saïd shooting directly into Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.

Injury Worry for Hosts

The three points was partially overshadowed by an injury to Morocco's captain, Romain Saïss, who was forced off after the 18th minute in some distress.

The defender had only made his comeback to the national side recently following a year’s absence caused by a serious ankle operation.

This result extends Morocco's historic run of successive wins to 19, surpassing the previous record of 15 set by the Spanish national team from 2008 and 2009.