The Moroccan national team failed to maintain its early lead against the Democratic Republic of the Congo national team and tied 1-1, delaying its passage from the group stage of the African Cup of Nations “Côte d’Ivoire 2023”.

The Atlas Lions raised their score to 4 points at the top of Group F, while the Democratic Republic of Congo increased their score to 2 points.

The Moroccan team started in an ideal manner, and Youssef En-Nesyri almost opened the scoring in the first minute after heading a ball, which was blocked by Congolese goalkeeper Lionel Mbassi and turned into a corner.

This corner resulted in the first goal for the Moroccan team through Achraf Hakimi, who received a pass from Sofiane Boufal and shot “on the fly” by the sixth minute.

The goal freed up the Moroccan players who had completely controlled the match, so coach Walid Regragui resorted to diversifying his attacks.

In the 12th minute, Hakim Ziyech shot from a long distance, and the goalkeeper intervened.

The danger of the Moroccan team was evident across the parties, and through it Boufal and Ezzedine Ounahi succeeded in disrupting the Congolese defense.

Youssef En-Nesyri mishandled an easy ball, as he was alone with the Congolese goalkeeper and missed a goal in the 19th minute.

Then the Lions players began to be clearly affected by the hot weather, so the opponent took control of things relatively, and his pressure resulted in a penalty kick confirmed by video technology, which was then missed by Cedric Bakambu in the 43rd minute, so Yassine Bounou continued his success story with penalty kicks since the Qatar World Cup.

The second half witnessed a continued decline in the performance of the Moroccan national team players as Congo advanced and advanced, so Regragui was forced to make many changes in the attacking and midfield lines, as Bilal Al-Khannous replaced Sofiane Boufal.

Morocco did not threaten the goal of Congolese goalkeeper Mbasi Swe in the 66th minute through Onahi, who shot high.

Then the balance tipped towards Congo, who equalized in the 75th minute by player Silas Omengituka after an attack from the left corridor, where Mohamed Al-Shaibi was.

Bakambo almost scored the second goal in the same way, but Hakimi cleared the ball off the goal line, so the match ended in a 1-1 draw.