66 min: Nigeria are really flat. Their passing is laboured and Morocco are finding it easy to shuffle across to block them. There’s not a lot of movement off the ball either.

Ezzalzouli escapes a yellow after kicking the ball away following a foul.

64 min: Nwabali takes a chance in his six-yard box as El Kaabi closes him down. A panicked toe-punt out for a throw does little to dispel any nerves.

62 min: Nigeria are growing more frustrated. Bassey overhits a simple ball out to Onyemaechi on the left and it goes out of play. A hopeful ball into the Morocco box ends with a couple of defenders bumping into Osimhen and the ball goes harmlessly behind.

60 min: Ezzalzouli’s free-kick is underhit and Nwabali gathers at the near post.

59 min: Osayi-Samuel does really well up against Ezzalzouli, standing his ground in the area and forcing the winger back towards the touchline. The referee eventually takes issue with his physical approach and gives a soft free-kick that Morocco can swing in.

57 min: Hakimi and Brahim come again down Morocco’s right. The latter gets his cross all wrong on his weaker foot and Nwabali can gather from under his own crossbar. Bit of a lack of quality seeping in.

55 min: A Nigeria spell of pressure ends with Onyeka, off balance, crossing on to the roof of Bounou’s net.

53 min: Best chance of the match! Morocco break fast with Saibari, who lays the ball off to Ezzalzouli on his left and he tries to bend his shot into the far corner but Nwabali bats it away. Nigeria clear the resulting corner before Bassey makes a vital interception to stop Mazraoui finding El Kaabi in the box.

51 min: Onyemaechi lofts a cross into the Morocco box, the ball finds its way to Onyedika some 25 yards out and his thumps a volley into the floor and well wide.

49 min: Ezzalzouli tries to twist Ajayi’s blood out wide before El Aynaoui wins a foul. Someone has a whistle in the crowd which is … unhelpful.

47 min: El Aynaoui ends up grimacing in pain after his foot is trodden on by Lookman. It’s been a scrappy start to the second half.

Adrian writes in: “To Fulham supporter Richard Hirst, whether Nigeria wins or loses you will get your players back at the same time. If Nigeria loses, they still have to play the third-place match. Therefore you should want Nigeria to win the whole thing.”

Ah, the third-place playoff. I fear I’m in the minority when I say that I actually quite like them. A bit of light relief after some high-intensity games. Saturday 4pm (GMT) in this case.

Jonathan Wilson couldn’t be in two places at once today, so he was in Tangier to watch Senegal knock out Egypt in the other semi-final:

45 min: The game is meandering towards half-time. One minute is added.

44 min: Everyone’s eardrums are given a rest after a spell of Nigeria possession comes to an end with a misplaced pass out of play.

42 min: Osayi-Samuel marauds diagonally across the Morocco half and feeds it to Onyemaechi on the left but Brahim tracks back to intercept, to huge ovation from the crowd. He does the dirty work too.

40 min: Nwabali saves! El Khannouss exchanges passes with Ezzalzouli and tests the Nigeria keeper with a strike to his near post. It’s easily repelled.

38 min: Morocco get another free-kick in the attacking third, Hakimi crosses in and Nwabali juggles before gathering and punting it towards Adams. The ball just keeps coming back.

37 min: Osayi-Samuel whacks his knee into Ezzalzouli’s thigh, unintentionally. Might be a dead leg. The magic spray is out and does the trick.

35 min: Hakimi whips the free-kick over the wall and ripples the roof of the net. Inches away.

34 min: That yellow card means Bassey will miss the final if Nigeria progress. It’s so soft and yet so costly. Osimhen comes to have a consolatory word. Morocco have a free-kick on the edge of the box.

33 min: Masina intervenes just in time as Osimhen and Lookman try to create something in the Morocco box. Bassey then goes into the book for bringing down Brahim with a trailing arm, supposedly.

31 min: Osayi-Samuel tries to find Adams down the line but the Nigeria striker fouls his man. Eric Chelle has to find answers.

29 min: Nervy moments for Nigeria! Hakimi whips a cross into the box which Brahim glances wide of the back post. The pressure is building a touch.

28 min: Hakimi does some cheerleading after winning a corner off Onyemaechi. Masina heads it down but El Kaabi can’t quite hook it goalwards and Nigeria clear.

27 min: Mazraoui gets up and under a clearance from his own corner flag, El Kaabi wins the physical battle this time to flick it on but Brahim can’t latch on to it. Adams then fails to hold the ball up in the Morocco area just as Nigeria were looking threatening.

25 min: Nwabali slices another clearance out of play and does the typical look-at-the-turf-accusingly routine. Nigeria have to keep the ball better than this. Ajayi cuddles El Kaabi this time after Morocco send it long.

23 min: Onyemaechi times his tackle right this time, just as Brahim was trying to slip the ball in behind for Hakimi down the right. Bassey and El Kaabi are involved in a right physical tussle and the Nigeria defender wins another free-kick off the striker.

21 min: Onyemaechi is pulled up for a kick at Hakimi’s ankles. The resulting free-kick out wide is well worked and El Aynaoui’s looping header drops harmlessly wide.

19 min: Nigeria try to break at speed with Osimhen and Lookman but the latter is surrounded by three Morocco players before he can pick out a teammate. The hosts say: ‘You’ll have to do better than that.’

17 min: El Khannouss tries to send a ball into the box but it’s blocked out for a corner. Osimhen heads away at the near post.

15 min: Bounou saves! Nice work from Iwobi creates an opening for Nigeria. He squares the ball across for Lookman who, some 20-25 yards out, hits a shot that bounces in front of the Morocco keeper, who parries it out of danger.

13 min: Morocco get on the ball just long enough to hear the Nigerian band in the stands before Nigeria win it back and the din returns. Nwabali scuffs a clearance out for a Morocco throw on halfway.

11 min: Nigeria are not getting the rub of the green with the referee. Iwobi wants a foul before a Morocco breakaway but doesn’t get it. Osimhen then wrestles with Masina inside the Nigeria half and a free-kick is given. Osimhen is not happy.

9 min: Just wide! Brahim drifts in on his left foot, inside the area, and floats a shot just wide of the far post. Oof. The noise builds further.

8 min: Brahim and Hakimi try to work something down the Morocco right but Bassey hoofs it clear. Brahim comes again …

6 min: Lookman gets on the ball on the edge of the box and tries to play Osayi-Samuel through but he collides with a couple of Morocco defenders and is penalised, for some reason. Onyedika then goes in on Hakimi. Feisty.

5 min: Nigeria try to take the sting out of the game after a jumpy start. That only serves to increase the volume of whistling coming from the home crowd.

3 min: Ajayi is a bag of nerves, giving the ball straight to Ezzalzouli in Nigeria’s defensive third. The defender manages to crunch in a tackle just as the winger was pulling the trigger.

2 min: Iwobi looks for Osimhen right away, punting the ball over the Morocco backline but Bono comes to gather. Piercing whistles for whenever Nigeria are on the ball.

Nigeria’s national anthem is well observed. Morocco’s is raucous – the stakes are huge. Kick-off is upon us.

The fans are out in force in Rabat. They await the teams.

Route to the semis

Nigeria
Group stage (1st): won 2-1 v Tanzania, won 3-2 v Tunisia, won 3-1 v Uganda
Last 16: won 4-0 v Mozambique
Quarter-final: won 2-0 v Algeria
Top scorer: Victor Osimhen (4 goals)

Morocco
Group stage (1st): won 2-0 v Comoros, drew 1-1 v Mali, won 3-0 v Zambia
Last 16: won 1-0 v Tanzania
Quarter-final: won 2-0 v Cameroon
Top scorer: Brahim Díaz (5 goals)

Morocco’s players head out to warm up in Rabat, high-fiving an Atlas lion (a cuddly mascot, not a real one) on their way out of the tunnel. The country’s hosting abilities have been under scrutiny throughout this Afcon with a view to co-hosting the World Cup with Spain and Portugal in 2030. Jonathan Wilson has been there:

The high-speed Al-Boraq rail service from Rabat to Tangier is exceptional and should be extended through Casablanca to Marrakech by 2030. The conventional trains are very good, though they would come under strain at a World Cup, and don’t yet reach as far south as Agadir. With internal flights limited, that is an obvious potential problem. Hotels have easily been able to cope with the influx of visitors for the Cup of Nations without absurd price increases, and Morocco has a developed tourist infrastructure. That may yet not be enough for the far greater stresses of a World Cup, but the foundations are there.

“As a Fulham supporter I’m torn,” writes Richard Hirst. “Should I want Nigeria to lose so that we get Bassey, Iwobi and Chukwueze back quickly? Or should I want Nigeria to win the whole thing, so that when we do get them back they are on a high and tear our opponents to shreds? Answers to Marco Silva please.”

Yep, just the three Fulham players in the Nigeria squad tonight. Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi start, with Samuel Chukwueze waiting in the wings.

Captain Wilfred Ndidi misses out for Nigeria with a combination of suspension and injury. He picked up a second yellow card of the tournament, earning him a one-match ban, and a hamstring strain in the quarter-final. Club Brugge’s Raphael Onyedika takes his place in the XI tonight in their only change.

Morocco are unchanged from their quarter-final.

Senegal await the winners of this one in final after edging out Egypt in the first semi-final. The full-time whistle went a few minutes ago, with Sadio Mané’s late-ish winner was the difference.

Yara El-Shaboury is sweeping up the reaction on her blog: