Golden Boots - Nigeria's Osimhen and Morocco's Diaz face off at AFCON

Hosts Morocco and last tournament's finalists Nigeria face their toughest test of this year's AFCON when they meet inside the 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium for their semifinal on Wednesday.

Both teams boast the best defence and best attack respectively, and have been arguably the best two teams at the tournament. Nigeria have dominated the opposition in possession, shots and goals scored, while Morocco have brushed past every opposition with relative ease.

The Atlas Lions are on a remarkable 38-game unbeaten streak in official games at home, an intimidating record the Super Eagles would be wise to take note of.

However, their AFCON semifinal record is less impressive, just one win in four appearances. By contrast, the Super Eagles are masters of AFCON semis. In 16 previous appearances, they have triumphed eight times.

It is a testament to their consistency that they are the only one of the four semifinalists from 2023 that have made it to this stage again. The others were defending champions Ivory Coast, South Africa and Congo DR.

The Super Eagles have not faced North African opposition back to back in the knockout stages of the AFCON since 1980, when they defeated Morocco, and then Algeria, to claim their first title on home soil.

The most recent AFCON meetings between the two ended with the Super Eagles winning 2-0 in Lagos in 2000 and Morocco winning 1-0 in Tunisia in 2004.

So what should we look out for on Wednesday?

Can Diaz and Osimhen be contained?

Morocco have by far the best defence in the tournament, having allowed just one goal so far, the penalty against Mali in their 1-1 group stage draw. Their defence have been flawless since, shutting out Zambia, Tanzania and Cameroon enroute to this semifinal.

They face their first real test against Nigeria's attack, arguably the most lethal of the tournament so far, with 14 goals and counting, and are just two short of the tournament record of goals scored, currently held by Ivory Coast, from their 2008 run.

Nigeria's front three - Akor Adams, Victor Osimhen, and Ademola Lookman -- have a combined nine goals among them, that should be more than enough to handle for the so far unyielding Morocco rearguard.

At the back, the Super Eagles defence were overly generous in the group stages, allowing four goals. But they have since tightened up, and scaled through the knockouts with a stingier record, allowing no goals against Mozambique and Algeria.

That is hardly to be the case with Morocco, who have the tournament's top scorer in Real Madrid's Brahim Díaz with five goals, as well as three-goal bicycle kick proponent Ayoub El Kaabi.

Diaz has scored in all five games so far, becoming the first Moroccan to do so, and will be keen to extend that record further, especially against a team like Nigeria.

Osimhen, his opposite number, is one goal behind Diaz and two goals shy of Nigeria's all-time scoring record, but appears to be more driven by the will to win. That makes him more dangerous.

There will be plenty of work to be done by defences on both ends of the pitch. This should be the ultimate test of quality, ability and discipline for both rearguards. Don't be surprised to see a penalty, and even a sending off.

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What does Wilfred Ndidi's suspension mean for Nigeria vs. Morocco?

Colin Udoh discusses how Nigeria could play without their captain Wilfred Ndidi as he faces a one-match suspension.

What will Ndid's absence mean?

Captain Wilfred Ndidi missing the semifinal is a blow to Nigeria, but could it have it's advantages.

To start with, Ndidi had no business picking up that yellow card against Algeria. As one of three players on a yellow card, facing the spectre of suspension, he needed to be more careful during the game, and he was.

So it was a bit of a let-down to see him receive a caution, ostensibly for delaying the game when he got hurt and had to be subbed off.

Apart from the calming leadership he brings to the team as captain, Ndidi has rediscovered his form of old during this tournament. The former Leicester City midfielder has made great reads on opposition plays, shutting them down before they get in front of his back four, and playing simple progressive balls in those key transition moments.

His absence will be a miss for Nigeria, and coach Eric Chelle will have to figure out how he reshuffles his deck to send out the best possible replacement.

On the plus side, Ndidi's absence could turn out to be a godsend for Nigeria. One thing that has emerged during the course of this tournament is that Chelle has settled on what he believes to be his best lineup, and has rarely deviated from it.

He named the exact same starting XI for two consecutive games. With Ndidi fit, the reasonable expectation would have been that the Nigeria coach would not be looking to change what ain't broke, and keep the same line up, making it easy for Morocco to game-plan for the Super Eagles.

With Ndidi out, however, things are not so easy for Walid Regragui and his technical staff on that front. They will now have to figure out which of Chelle's many options step in as a replacement, and how that affects his tactical decisions.

That might be enough to keep Morocco guessing, rather than the settled lineup that everyone now knows. The Super Eagles should look to take early advantage while the Lions are trying to figure things out on the field.

Speaking of tactics...

Throughout the tournament, Chelle has played with his preferred 4-4-2 diamond midfield for all but one game, the final group contest against Uganda where he switched to a flat 4-4-2.

With Ndidi suspended, the coach might be tempted to surprise Morocco and go in that direction again. If he does, he will have the option of bringing in wide players like Samuel Chukwueze and Moses Simon to stretch the Atlas Lions.

On the other hand, he may prefer to stick with his tried and so far tested diamond. In which case, he would probably have Frank Onyeka take Ndidi's position, and leave himself the option of either Raphael Onyedika or Fisayo Dele-Bashiru to slot into the spot vacated by Onyeka.

There is also the option of throwing in youngster Tochukwu Nnodim who has impressed so far in the cameos he has made, although a starting spot, in a major semifinal, would be way out of left field.

The question is whether the replacements can bring Ndidi's calm and confidence in what is expected to be a testy duel.

Referees under the spotlight

Leading into this game, one big conversation point has been the quality of the match officials. Questions have been asked of a multitude of decisions taken by match officials, especially in games involving the hosts.

In fairness to the referees, a lot of the decisions have proven correct by the letter of the Laws of the Game, especially in the handball calls (or no calls, in some cases) made so far.

But that has not stopped teams from complaining, a stark contrast to the last tournament where the referees were universally praised.

Complaints by hosts Morocco forced CAF to replace Egypt's Amin Omar, who was originally scheduled to take charge of their quarterfinal against Cameroon. He was replaced by Mauritanian Dehane Beida instead.

Cameroon were then left livid about Beida's calls, especially an incident when Manchester United striker Bryan Mbeumo appeared to have been tripped in the box, but was denied a penalty.

Algeria vs Nigeria also saw a referee change. Somalia's Omar Abdulkadir Artan was initially scheduled to handle the game, but was dropped after complaints that he wore boots from a brand not approved by CAF, a contractual violation. He was replaced by Senegalese referee Issa Sy.

Algeria, like Cameroon, were particularly incensed by the calls of the official, including a non-penalty call for handball against Semi Ajayi, even though the call turned out to be the correct call according to the laws of the game.

Sy was confronted by Algeria players and officials and had to be shielded by escorts as he was pursued into the tunnel. CAF have announced they would investigate the incident.

The Algerian federation also filed a formal complaint to CAF and FIFA complaining about the referee.

Wednesday's semifinals have thus become a touch point for refereeing performances, especially with suggestions that the hosts are being favoured.

Morocco coach Walid Regragui dismissed the insinuations after his team's quarterfinal win over Cameroon: "We're the team to beat. As the team to beat, people will try to find all sorts of reasons to say Morocco has an advantage.

"The only advantage that Morocco has at this Africa Cup is playing in front of 65,000 spectators. The rest is on the field, we speak on the field."

There have been suggestions on social media that CAF appoint referees from outside of Africa to ensure fairness and balance, which will never happen, of course.