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Host nation the Moroccan side shook off a nervy start to beat their island opponents in the competition's inaugural fixture on the weekend, with goals from Brahim Díaz and super-sub Ayoub El Kaabi in the second half.

It was a less than dominant performance, though, from the highly fancied Moroccans, who are ranked 97 places above the small Indian Ocean nation in the world rankings and had to grind out for the three points in rainy conditions at the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium.

Nervy Start and Missed Chances

Morocco missed an first-half spot-kick and were locked at 0-0 at the interval even with dominating possession, eventually opening the scoring in the 55th minute.

It came when full-back Mazraoui did well to prevent the ball from going out before slipping it square for Díaz to sidefoot into the net.

Every opening game is invariably tough but we came good in the second half,” commented manager Regragui.

El Kaabi's Piece of Brilliance

The tension was then extinguished by a piece of pure individual brilliance from substitute El Kaabi. Just ten minutes following his introduction, the forward met 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 might have taken the lead in the 11th minute when a penalty was given for a challenge on Brahim Díaz. Yet, Rahimi's penalty was saved by keeper Yannick Pandor.

The Visitors' Resistance and Second-Half Opportunity

The underdogs comfortably held Morocco at bay until the Moroccans' individual talent in the end told.

Shot-stopper Yannick Pandor pulled off several other good stops to limit the scoreline as the match wore on, even though his team did have a clear opportunity for an equalizer shortly following Díaz's goal, with Rafiki Saïd firing straight at Morocco goalkeeper Bounou.

Fitness Worry for Morocco

The three points was somewhat marred by an apparent injury to the skipper, Saïss, who was forced off after the first half in some distress.

The defender had just returned to the international setup recently following a year’s layoff caused by a serious ankle operation.

This result continues the team's record-breaking run of consecutive victories to nineteen, surpassing the previous record of 15 set by the Spanish national team from 2008 and 2009.