Díaz scores in fifth straight game as Morocco joins Senegal in Africa Cup semifinals

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Brahim Díaz scored again and host Morocco joined Senegal in the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 2-0 win over Cameroon on Friday.

Díaz extended his Moroccan record by scoring in a fifth straight game at the tournament when he ushered in with his groin Ayoub El Kaabi’s header from a corner in the 27th minute. Díaz ran to the corner and shrugged as if to say he didn’t know how he scored again.

Ismael Saibari sealed the win in the 74th with a low shot inside the far post after a corner, just minutes after Cameroon substitute Georges-Kévin Nkoudou went close at the other end.

That proved to be five-time champion Cameroon’s only real chance as the Indomitable Lions succumbed to the Atlas Lions for the first time in five meetings at an Africa Cup.

“It wasn’t a perfect match because in the second half we allowed Cameroon to gain confidence again,” Morocco coach Walid Regragui said. “We spent a lot of energy in the first half, we were all over the field. But in the second half we fell back, so there are things that can be improved. At the end of the day we’re in the semifinals.”

Morocco next plays Nigeria or Algeria on Wednesday.

Cameroon players danced their way to the locker room before the game but when they took to the field they were greeted by deafening whistles at the near 70,000-capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

Morocco will have the fans' support there in the semifinals, also, and the final on Jan. 18 should it progress.

The Atlas Lions might have won by more but for Cameroon captain Nouhou Tolo's spectacular clearance early on and Samuel Kotto's goal-line clearance in the second half. Abdessamad Ezzalzouli fired just wide and El Kaabi hit the side netting in the first half, then Ezzalzouli headed over in the second.

The tireless Díaz went off to ovations in the final minute. He'll have an extra day's rest over the team's next opponents.

Iliman Ndiaye’s first-half strike was enough for Senegal to beat 10-man Mali 1-0 in the first quarterfinal.

Ndiaye poked the ball home from close range in the 27th minute after Mali 'keeper Djigui Diarra let Krépin Diatta’s cross slip through his fingers to land at Ndiaye’s feet.

The winter rain which has soaked the tournament started to fall early at Grand Stade de Tanger and it would not have helped Diarra’s grip on the ball.

Mali captain Yves Bissouma was already booked for a foul on Sadio Mané as his team made a courageous start, and the Eagles’ hopes took a major blow when he was shown a second yellow card before the break for a foul on Idrissa Gueye.

Referee Abongile Tom had already sent off Woyo Coulibaly in Mali’s previous game, a penalty shootout win over Tunisia, and Bissouma’s sending off represented the team’s third sending off in as many games.

Abdoulaye Diaby had Mali's best chance before the hour mark but his shot was too close to Senegal keeper Édouard Mendy.

Otherwise all the chances were at the other end; Diarra saved from Lamine Camara and Mané in stoppage time.

The 2021 champion stays in Tangier where it awaits the winner between Ivory Coast and Egypt in the first semifinal on Wednesday.

AP at the Africa Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-cup-of-nations

Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Díaz reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Cameroon and Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Díaz, right, scores his side's opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Cameroon and Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Morocco's Brahim Abdelkader Díaz celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Cameroon and Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Senegal fans sing the national anthem ahead of the start of the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Senegal and Mali in Tangier, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Referee Abongile Tom shows the red card to Mali's Yves Bissouma during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Senegal and Mali in Tangier, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Senegal's Sadio Mane, left, and Mali's Mamadou Sangare fight for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Senegal and Mali in Tangier, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Senegal's Iliman Ndiaye scores the opening goal of his team during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Senegal and Mali in Tangier, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Senegal's Mouhamadou Diallo, left, and Mali's Ousmane Camara fight for the ball during the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal soccer match between Senegal and Mali in Tangier, Morocco, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he will allow service members to carry personal weapons onto military installations, citing the Second Amendment and recent shootings at bases across the country.

In a video posted to X, Hegseth said he is signing a memo that will direct base commanders to allow requests for troops to carry privately owned firearms “with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection.”

He said any denial of a service member's request must be explained in detail and in writing.

“Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones,” Hegseth said. “Unless you're training or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn't carry, you couldn't bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post.”

Questions about why service members lacked access to weapons have often emerged following shootings on the nation's military bases. Such shootings have ranged from isolated events between service members to mass casualty events, such as the shootings by an Army psychiatrist at Texas’ Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead.

Hegseth cited some of the events in his video, including a shooting that injured five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia last year. Officials said the shooter, an Army sergeant who worked at the base, used his personal handgun before he was tackled by fellow soldiers and arrested.

“In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.”

Defense Department policy has prohibited military personnel from carrying personal weapons on base without permission from a senior commander, with strict protocol for how the firearms must be stored.

Typically, military personnel must officially check their guns out of secure storage to go to on-base hunting areas or shooting ranges, then check all firearms back in promptly after their sanctioned use. Military police are often the only armed personnel on base, outside of shooting ranges, hunting areas or in training, where soldiers can wield their service weapons without ammunition.

Tanya Schardt, senior counsel at the Brady gun violence prevention organization, said in a statement that Defense Department leaders and the military’s top brass have opposed relaxing the current policy, which was originally enacted under President George H.W. Bush.

Schardt noted that most active duty service members who die by suicide do so with a weapon they own personally, not one military-issued, and argued that there will “undoubtedly be an increase in gun suicide and other gun violence.”

While fewer American service members died by suicide in 2024, the suicide rates among active duty troops overall still have gradually increased between 2011 and 2024, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

“Our military installations are among the most guarded, protected properties in the world, and they’ve never been ‘gun-free zones,’” Schardt said. “If there is a problem with violent crime on these installations, then the Secretary of Defense has an obligation to alert the American people and describe how he’s working to prevent that crime.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)