Nayef Aguerd and Morocco made a winning start at the 2023 CAF Cup of Nations tournament by defeating Tanzania 3-0 in Group F on Wednesday.
The West Ham United centre-back was in good form yet again for head coach Walid Regragui’s Atlas Lions, helping the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists secure a comfortable victory at the Laurent Pokou Stadium in San-Pédro, Ivory Coast.
The 27-year-old completed the full 90 minutes as Morocco kept a clean sheet against opponents reduced to ten men with 20 minutes to play, when the score was just 1-0 in the Moroccans' favour.
Aguerd's defensive partner and captain Romain Saïss opened the scoring on 30 minutes, before Marseille midfielder Azzedine Ounahi and Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri added further goals in the second half.
Morocco continue their campaign against DR Congo on Sunday 21 January, again at the Laurent Pokou Stadium, before a final Group F clash against Zambia on Wednesday 24 January 2024.
The final will take place at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpé on Sunday 11 February at 8pm GMT.
Aguerd has now made 36 appearances for his national side since his debut in August 2016 and has previously helped Morocco to win their first African Nations Championship, won in their home nation with a 4-0 win over Nigeria.
Mohammed Kudus and Ghana face Egypt in Group B at the Stade Félix Houphouët Boigny in Abidjan on Thursday 18 January at 8pm GMT. Chris Hughton's Black Stars need to win after losing 1-0 to Cape Verde in their opening fixture.
Fans in the UK and around the world will be able to follow AFCON on CAF’s YouTube channel for free and on Sky Sports via subscription.