7 historical numbers accompany Morocco’s passage to the semi-finals of the African Cup

The Moroccan national team continued to write a new chapter in its continental history, after defeating its Cameroonian counterpart with a score of (2-0), on Friday evening, in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations, so that the “Atlas Lions” reserved their place in the semi-finals, and ended a historical knot of their crisis against the “Untamed Lions” in the continental championship.

The Moroccan national team’s qualification to the semi-finals was accompanied by seven historical records.

Diaz’s brilliance
Diaz entered the history of the Africa Cup of Nations from the widest gates in his first participation in the tournament, after he became the first Moroccan player to score in five consecutive matches in one edition of the finals. The player also continued to be the top scorer in the tournament, confirming his technical value, thanks to his high skills and his ability to make a difference.

Golden square
With this victory, the Moroccan national team reached the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations for the fifth time in its history, and the first since the 2004 edition held in Tunisia, ending a 22-year wait and strengthening its hopes of winning the continental title for the second time after the completion of the 1976 edition.

Break the knot
The “Atlas Lions” recorded their first victory over Cameroon in the history of their confrontations in the African Cup of Nations finals, after they had previously met three times, drawing the first in the 1986 group stage, while Cameroon won the 1988 semi-finals and the 1992 group stage.
In terms of general numbers, the Moroccan national team increased the number of its victories over Cameroon in various competitions to three victories, compared to seven for Cameroon, while four matches ended in a draw, out of 14 confrontations between the two teams throughout history.

Unbeaten record
Morocco has strengthened its strong record at home, as it has not suffered any loss at home in the last 38 matches, since 2009, as the last loss was also against Cameroon, in the World Cup qualifiers, so the current victory appears to be a historic restoration.

Defensive fortress
The Moroccan national team continued its defensive brilliance, as it did not concede any goal during the elimination stage since the tournament in 2004, becoming the strongest in the current tournament so far, contenting itself with conceding only one goal in the group stage.

International classification
At the international classification level, the Moroccan national team gained an additional 11.42 points after its victory over Cameroon, temporarily rising to eighth place in the world in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) classification, in an unprecedented achievement, after it was occupying 11th place with 1,716.34 points, achieving the best Arab position in the international classification, after the Egyptian national team, which in 2009 reached ninth place in the world.

Mass leap
In the stands, the tournament continued to record remarkable numbers, as the crowd attendance at the African Cup of Nations exceeded the barrier of one million spectators, and the total attendance until the end of the eighth-final round reached about 957,618 fans, an average of 21,764 spectators per match, and the number of crowd attendance increased, with the quarter-final matches, which witnessed the attendance of more than 62 thousand fans for the match between Morocco and Cameroon, and 32 thousand in the match between Senegal and Mali.
It is expected that the tournament will break the historical record that was recorded in the last edition that took place in Côte d’Ivoire, in which the audience attendance reached one million and 100 thousand fans.