Striker Mounir El-Hamdaoui scored two minutes before halftime firing a left-foot volley past stunned goalkeeper Juma Kaseja.
Tanzania had started its qualifying campaign by surprisingly drawing with 2010 semifinalist and World Cup qualifier Algeria, and was confident for the home match against Morocco, which couldn’t score in its draw with Central Africa.
Morocco improved to 4 points in Group D, while Tanzania had 1. Algeria and Central Africa play on Sunday.
Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, an ardent sports fan, took time off from his re-election campaign, to join the huge crowd at National Stadium to watch the Taifa Stars, who began cautiously.
Striker Danny Mrwanda missed an early chance then Tanzania spent the rest of the half trying to foil Moroccan attacks led by Marouane Chamakh.
After halftime, Morocco sat on its lead and did enough to hold out Tanzania.
