Hours after traditional powerhouse Nigeria dropped points at home to Zimbabwe, Morocco maintained their status as the only team with a 100 percent record in the African qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 win over Tanzania.
Nayef Aguerd and Brahim Diaz scored early in the second-half to secure the three points on Tuesday night at the Stade Municipal in Oujda to take Morocco to 15 points after five games in Group E.
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"I'm very satisfied," said Morocco boss Walid Regragui, who guided the side to the last four at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
"We're in March, in the middle of Ramadan. Some of the players have already played 44 games this season, and many are playing in the UEFA Champions League and the Europa League but they did the job.
"The most important thing was to take the six points from the two games and we have done that.
"Going to the United States for a third consecutive World Cup qualification would be a record for Morocco."
Failure
Nigeria has twice pulled off three consecutive trips to the quadrennial event. After appearing for the first time in 1994, they were at the subsequent tournaments in 1998 and 2002.
After missing out in 2006 in Germany, they featured at the following three competitions.
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But after the failure to qualify for the 2022 extravaganza in Qatar, the Super Eagles - as the team is nicknamed - face another misadventure.
They lie fourth in Group C with seven points after six of the 10 games following a 1-1 draw in Uyo.
Star striker Victor Osimhen gave Nigeria the lead with 15 minutes remaining but Tawanda Chirewa equalised in stoppage- time for the visitors.
South Africa lead the way in the pool following a 2-0 win over Benin to give them a five-point cushion.
Elsewhere, in Group A, Egypt beat Sierra Leone 1-0 to maintain a five-point gap over second-placed Burkina Faso.
And in Group B, Sudan lost top spot after a 1-1 draw with South Sudan. Democratic Republic of Congo replace them as leaders following a 2-0 win over Mauritania. Charles Pickel and substitute Fiston Mayele scored for Sébastien Desabre's side to take them to 13 points, one more than Sudan and Senegal who beat Togo 2-0.
The winners of the nine African qualifying pools progress automatically to next year's tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The four best second-placed teams play in a tournament in Africa and the winners advance to a six-team play-off for two places at the finals.
