"Morocco head into Wednesday’s AFCON semi-final against Nigeria with confidence and a ‘sense of occasion’, as coach Walid Regragui hailed the clash as one of the most important matches the nation has ever played. Footage from Tuesday shows Regragui with Morocco goalkeeper Munir El Kajoui attending a press conference. Later, Nigerian coach Eric Chelle, with forward Alex Iwobi, is seen arriving and addressing the media. Speaking ahead of the match, Regragui said Morocco were embracing expectations rather than surprise. He added that, unlike Qatar 2022, “today we are in our place, everyone knows it, it is logical, and our objective is to make history.” Regragui also noted, “It will be 22 years since Morocco played in an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final,” adding that his focus was on “a new generation seeing Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final tomorrow.” For Nigeria, forward Alex Iwobi addressed using World Cup qualification disappointment as fuel. “It was, of course, a difficult moment for us […] but we use it as motivation to achieve something for our country.” Nigeria arrive at the semi-final as the only team to have won all five of their matches at AFCON 2025, while unbeaten Morocco dropped points with a group-stage draw against Mali. Their last AFCON encounter was a 1–0 Moroccan group-stage victory in January 2004. "