Morocco draws on home advantage against Comoros

The match will be held at the Moulay Abdellah Stadium                        

Morocco draws on home advantage against Comoros

The Moroccan and Comorian national teams are preparing for the opening match of the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place on Sunday. All 34 previous Africa Cup of Nations opening matches, with the exception of the 1970 and 1992 editions, have featured the host nation, as history favors home teams.

As Morocco prepares to face Comoros in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations, in an all-Arab encounter, the Atlas Lions draw confidence from a long-standing tradition of host nations dominating the opening match of Africa's premier tournament.

Since the inaugural Africa Cup of Nations in 1957, host nations have won 20 of their opening matches, while only 5 have lost, and 9 have ended in a draw.

The only exceptions to this rule were in 1970, when Cameroon and Ivory Coast opened the tournament in Sudan, according to the Confederation of African Football's official website, and again in 1992, when Cameroon and Morocco kicked off the competition, which was then hosted by Senegal.

The first Africa Cup of Nations opening match ended in disappointment for the host nation, as Sudan lost 2-1 to Egypt in Khartoum 68 years ago, when only three teams participated. It would take almost three decades before another host nation suffered a defeat in its opening match.

The most memorable opening match victory in the Africa Cup of Nations remains Algeria's resounding 5-1 win over Nigeria in Algiers in 1990. The two teams met again in the final, where the Desert Warriors triumphed over the Super Eagles with a single goal to claim their first-ever title.

Other historic opening match victories include Tunisia's crushing 4-0 win over Ethiopia in 1965, Ivory Coast's 3-0 victory over Togo in their home opening match of the 1984 edition, and South Africa's impressive 3-0 win over Cameroon, which paved the way for Bafana Bafana to lift the trophy in 1996.

The most thrilling opening match in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations occurred in 2010 when Angola squandered a four-goal lead in the final 11 minutes, allowing Mali to stage a remarkable comeback and secure a 4-4 draw in Luanda.

For its part, the Moroccan national team failed to secure a victory in its opening match of the only Africa Cup of Nations it hosted in 1988. They squandered a one-goal lead in the first half, drawing 1-1 with Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

The Moroccan team conceded the equalizer just three minutes before the final whistle, a result that proved ominous, as the host nation ultimately failed to win the title, losing in the semi-finals to Cameroon, who went on to lift the trophy.