Ajax talent Ouazane makes his mark immediately on debut for Morocco

Morocco opened their qualifying campaign for the 2027 Africa Cup with a 2-0 win over Gabon. Noussair Mazraoui and Soufiane Rahimi got the goals in Rabat, while Abdellah Ouazane made his debut for the national team in the closing stages. The Ajax top talent played a direct part in Morocco's second goal with the pre-assist.

From kick-off, the home side took control and pinned Gabon deep inside their own half. Azzedine Ounahi looked Morocco's most dangerous player early on and rattled the bar after 27 minutes.

Nine minutes later, the opening goal finally arrived. Mazraoui cut in from the right and unleashed a shot from around 20 metres, with goalkeeper Loyce Mbaba Amonome misjudging the bounce: 1-0.

After the break, Morocco stayed on top and quickly threatened to add a second. Nayef Aguerd saw a volley from a corner brilliantly saved by Amonome, while Ounahi and Abde Ezzalzouli also caused problems.

Just over an hour in, head coach Mohamed Ouahbi made a change and sent on, among others, Rahimi and Ilias Akhomach. Gabon then grew slightly into the game and Denis Bouanga forced goalkeeper Yassine Bounou into action with a shot.

Then came a special moment for Ouazane in the 76th minute. The Ajax midfielder replaced the impressive Ounahi and made his debut for Morocco, who were still only one goal ahead at that point.

As the closing stages wore on, Gabon pushed for an equaliser and Bounou had to intervene, among other moments, on a header from Orphée Mbina Effaghe. Morocco finally killed the tension at the other end four minutes from time.

Ouazane released Bilal El Khannouss down the left, and the midfielder pulled the ball back first time to Rahimi. The substitute fired in the 2-0 and gave Morocco a convincing start to the qualifying campaign.