Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz leads Morocco into AFCON semis

Morocco beat Cameroon 2-0 in Rabat on Monday to confirm its spot in the Africa Cup of Nations semifinals.

A second-half strike from forward Ismael Saibari sealed the game for Morocco, but it was its opening goal—a clever, perfectly-positioned chested effort from Real Madrid attacker Brahim Diaz—that rightfully stole all the plaudits.

The goal was Diaz's fifth goal in five straight AFCON games, making him the tournament's top scorer with two rounds left to play.

Brahim Diaz's unconventional journey

Diaz might be Morocco's most valuable player, but he almost wasn't a Morocco player at all.

Born in Malaga to a Spanish mother and a Moroccan father, Diaz represented Spain throughout his youth national team career. He even earned a senior Spanish national team cap against Lithuania in 2021 and scored a goal in his debut for La Furia Roja.

From there, though, Diaz fell out of favor with Spain, and Morocco coach Walid Regragui was quick to reach out. Diaz's sole Spanish cap occurred in an unofficial friendly, so Regragui knew Diaz could legally switch national team allegiances to Morocco—but only if he never played an official match for Spain again.

As Morocco's fortunes continued to rise, starting with a semifinal finish at the 2022 World Cup, Diaz came around to Regragui's vision. He formally switched allegiances in 2024 and hasn't looked back since. Diaz's arrival coincided with the start of Morocco's record-breaking run of 19 straight international wins...a record, fittingly, that it also snatched from Spain.

An AFCON to remember for Brahim Diaz

Diaz's five goals in five AFCON games are impressive, but what really stands out is the diversity of those goals. Diaz isn't just a free-kick specialist or a tap-in merchant. He's capable of scoring from a wide variety of build-up plays.

His first goal of the tournament was a driving shot from inside the box against Comoros; his second, an ice-cold penalty kick against Mali. He scored a running number against Zambia for this third, went on a near-post solo run against Tanzania for his fourth, then capped off his AFCON journey with a chested set-piece number against Cameroon. Five goals, five wildly different plays.