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The Morocco shook off a anxious beginning to beat Comoros in the tournament's inaugural fixture on Sunday, thanks to the Real Madrid attacker and substitute El Kaabi in the second half.

This constituted a far from convincing display, though, from the strongly favored hosts, who are ranked 97 places above the tiny island nation in the FIFA rankings and had to grind out for the points in wet conditions at Rabat's national stadium.

Tense Beginning and Spurned Chances

Morocco missed an first-half penalty and were goalless at the interval despite controlling the ball, finally breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

The goal arrived after Noussair Mazraoui did well to keep the ball in play before slipping it square for Brahim Díaz to sidefoot home.

“The first match is invariably tough but we came good in the second half,” commented manager Walid Regragui.

El Kaabi's Piece of Magic

The tension was then eased by a piece of pure genius from substitute El Kaabi. Just 10 minutes after coming on, the striker connected with a ball into the box with a acrobatic bicycle kick in the 74th minute, making it two and sealing the result.

Before that, the Moroccan team could have been the lead in the 11th minute when a spot-kick was given for a challenge on Díaz. However, Rahimi's effort was saved by keeper Pandor.

Comoros Defiant Stand and Late Chance

The underdogs stoutly defended against Morocco for long periods until the Moroccans' superior firepower eventually told.

Shot-stopper Yannick Pandor pulled off a number of other good stops to keep down the score as the game wore on, even though his team did have a clear opportunity for an equaliser shortly after Díaz's goal, with Rafiki Saïd firing straight at keeper Yassine Bounou.

Injury Concern for Morocco

The three points was somewhat marred by an injury to the skipper, Romain Saïss, who limped off in the 18th minute in tears.

This centre-back had only made his comeback to the national side recently after a year’s layoff due to ankle surgery.

This result continues the team's record-breaking run of successive wins to 19, surpassing the old best of 15 set by the Spanish national team between 2008 and 2009.