{"id":2957,"date":"2026-01-04T14:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/2957\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T14:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T14:59:07","slug":"ounahi-ruled-out-of-moroccos-afcon-match-against-tanzania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/2957\/","title":{"rendered":"Ounahi Ruled Out of Morocco\u2019s AFCON Match Against Tanzania"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rabat \u2013 Morocco will enter their Africa Cup of Nations 2025 round of 16 match against Tanzania with a setback, as midfielder Azzedine Ounahi is ruled out due to injury.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The 24-year-old was seen on crutches after sustaining a leg problem, forcing coach Walid Regragui to reshuffle his plans just hours before kickoff.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"fr\">\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde6\ud83d\udea8 Azzedine Ounahi arrive en b\u00e9quille et grosse attelle.<\/p>\n<p>Visiblement forfait pour toute la comp\u00e9tition. <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/u0gRm3HQT9\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/u0gRm3HQT9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Hanif Ben Berkane (@HanifBerkane) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HanifBerkane\/status\/2007810128675008895?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ounahi has been a vital figure for the Atlas Lions, known for his energy, vision, and ability to link defense with attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His absence <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/live-blogs\/morocco-vs-tanzania-live-updates-afcon-2025-score-result\/jkVZNkEIEdcW\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">leaves<\/a> a gap in Morocco\u2019s midfield, where his creativity and ball progression often set the tempo. Regragui is expected to turn to alternatives such as Oussama Targhalline or Bilal El Khannouss to fill the role, though neither offers the same balance of defensive work and attacking drive.<\/p>\n<p>The injury comes at a crucial stage of the tournament, with Morocco aiming to reach the quarterfinals on home soil. Fans had hoped to see Ounahi continue his strong form, but the team will now rely on its depth and collective strength to overcome Tanzania.<\/p>\n<p>While the extent of Ounahi\u2019s injury is still uncertain, Moroccan fans are <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moroccoworldnews.com\/2026\/01\/273832\/morocco-vs-tanzania-how-and-when-to-watch-the-round-of-16-decisive-game\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">hoping<\/a> for his quick recovery as the Atlas Lions continue their pursuit of continental glory, a trophy Morocco has not won since 1976.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco face Tanzania at 5 p.m. at Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, with a place in the quarterfinals on the line. Supporters will be eager to see the team maintain momentum despite Ounahi\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rabat \u2013 Morocco will enter their Africa Cup of Nations 2025 round of 16 match against Tanzania with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[411,527,2624,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-2957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tanzania","8":"tag-afcon","9":"tag-afcon-2025","10":"tag-morocco-national-football-team","11":"tag-tanzania"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}