The Moroccan national team continues to write a new chapter in its continental history by defeating their Cameroonian counterparts (2-0) on Friday evening in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. The 'Atlas Lions' have secured their place in the semi-finals, ending a historical jinx that had haunted them in the continental tournament. Along with their advancement to the semi-finals, the Moroccan team has set seven historical records. Diaz entered the history of the Africa Cup of Nations through the widest gate in his very first participation. He became the first Moroccan player to score in five consecutive matches within a single edition of the finals. The player also continued to top the tournament's scorers list, confirming his high value with his exceptional skills and ability to make a difference. With this victory, the Moroccan team reached the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the fifth time in their history and for the first time since the 2004 edition held in Tunisia, ending a 22-year wait and boosting their hopes of winning the continental title for the second time after the 1976 edition. Morocco secured its first-ever victory over Cameroon in the history of their encounters in the Africa Cup of Nations finals. They had met three times before: a draw in the group stage in 1986, a Cameroonian win in the 1988 semi-final, and a group stage match in 1992. In the overall statistics, Morocco increased its number of wins over Cameroon in all competitions to three, compared to seven for Cameroon, while four matches ended in a draw out of 14 encounters in history. Morocco reinforced its strong home record, having not suffered any loss at home in the last 38 matches since 2009, with the last defeat also coming from Cameroon in World Cup qualifiers. Thus, the current victory looks like a historic redemption. The Moroccan team continues its defensive brilliance, having conceded no goals in the knockout stage since the 2004 edition, making it the strongest defense in the current tournament so far, having conceded only one goal in the group stage. In the international rankings, the Moroccan team gained 11.42 additional points after defeating Cameroon, temporarily rising to 8th place in the FIFA world rankings. This is an unprecedented achievement, as it was previously 11th with 1716.34 points. The team achieved the best Arab position in the international rankings after Egypt, which reached 9th place in 2009. In the stands, the tournament continued to post impressive numbers. The total attendance for the Africa Cup of Nations surpassed the one-million spectator mark, and by the end of the round of 16, it stood at around 957,618 spectators, an average of 21,764 per match. With the quarter-final matches, where over 62,000 spectators attended the Morocco vs. Cameroon game and 32,000 for Senegal vs. Mali, the total attendance increased. The tournament is expected to break the historical record set in the previous edition in Ivory Coast, where the total attendance was 1.1 million spectators.
