McTominay-style finish – but what else did Scots learn about Morocco?

Morocco had their own Scott McTominay to thank as Scotland’s World Cup opponents opened the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-0 victory over Comoros in front of a capacity home crowd.

Ayoub El Kaabi’s stunning overhead kick, reminiscent of the Scotland midfielder’s iconic strike in the recent World Cup qualifier against Denmark, sealed the three points with 15 minutes remaining for the tournament hosts after Brahim Diaz opened the scoring 10 minutes after half-time.

The victory over the side ranked 108th in the world in front of a crowd of 60,180 in Rabat extended the Atlas Lions’ world-record run of consecutive victories to 19.

But what did we learn about the second seeds in Scotland’s group in the Americas this coming summer?

Diaz likes to go down in the penalty box.

The 26-year-old Real Madrid winger was perhaps fortunate to win himself a spot-kick when he looked to initiate contact with Iyad Mohamed’s planted foot as he tried to wriggle free on the byeline after just 10 minutes.

Goalkeeper Yannick Pandor beat away Soufiane Rahimi’s penalty as it was thumped down the centre of goal.

Malaga-born Diaz, who switched to Morocco in 2024 after earning one cap for Spain, also claimed for a penalty shortly before the break.

This time, he threw himself to the ground under a challenge from two Comoros defenders only to rightly be penalised for a handball before either could put in a challenge.

The quality of Diaz’s free-kicks were also sadly lacking.

However, he was a constant danger when staying on his feet, given licence to drift to both wings as well as attacking through the middle.

Steve Clarke’s side will not want to give him the kind of room he exploited to open the scoring against Comoros.

Diaz had gone five games without scoring after finding the net six times in eight appearances following his switch of allegiance.

He was back on the goal trail when Manchester United wing-back Noussair Mazraoui collected a clever chip over the Comoros defence, turned his marker and rolled into the path of Diaz in acres of space to side-foot home from 12 yards.

Whoever has the task of marking Diaz for Scotland will have a dilemma – get too close and he goes down, give him too much room and he will threaten to score.

Walid Regragui’s Morocco like to play a high-tempo game, switching balls quickly from wing to wing to stretch their opponents in their 4-3-3 formation.

Free-kicks and other set-pieces are taken quickly to maintain the intensity and pressure on their opponents.

Comoros, however, showed that Morocco, 97 places above them in 11th place in the world rankings, can be frustrated.

Sitting back for much of the first half, they limited the hosts to one on target from seven attempts until the opening goal.

That was despite Morocco peppering the Indian Ocean islanders’ penalty box with 16 crosses before the break, with Mazraoui prominent before eventually setting up Diaz to score.

Regragui’s side pounced the moment Comoros began to be a bit more adventurous shortly after the break and, once ahead, were relentless in pursuit of more goals as they upped the ante.

However, Morocco looked uncomfortable at times when Comoros were, on the rare occasion, able to press high.

They were also caught out a couple of times with long balls through the heart of the defence on the counter-attack.

Standard Liege striker Rafiki Said possibly should have silenced the home shortly after the opener when through on goal only to fire at outrushing Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou’s legs.

Apart from that, Bounou was only troubled once but didn’t look too clever when Youssouf M’Changama attempted an audacious free-kick from all of 50 yards.

The Al-Hilal number one was only able to gather at the second attempt, although he can probably use the constant downpour as an excuse.

It is difficult to gauge how good Morocco are from a meeting with a side from the smallest country of 24 competing at Afcon 2025 – and in front of their own vociferous fans.

Comoros were unbeaten as they topped their qualifying group ahead of Tunisia and shocked Ghana at the last Afcon two years ago.

However, Morocco beat Comoros 3-1 to top their group at the recent Arab Cup in Qatar before edging Jordan 3-2 after extra-time in Thursday’s final.

That was with a completely different squad than the one that is at their home tournament.

Comoros too only had one player from the Arab Cup starting at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium against the hosts.

Even so, it is another indication that Morocco have strength in depth.

This was three points gained without having to call on influential captain Achraf Hakimi, who was only fit for the bench after suffering an ankle injury playing for Paris St-Germain in a Champions League game in early November.

El Kaabi was himself a substitute before the 32-year-old Olympiacos striker made a sensational goalscoring entrance with 25 minutes remaining.

OK, he did not quite rise as high off the ground as McTominay, but it was greeted with similar gasps inside his home stadium.

Morocco’s depth will be tested more in tougher challenges ahead, starting with Mali on Boxing Day and then Zambia on 29 December.

They will, though, be favourites to qualify from Group A as the look to win Afcon for the first time since 1976 or at least reach the final for the first time in 21 years.

Plenty more time for Clarke to judge the strengths and weaknesses of the side Scotland will face at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, USA on 19 June.