The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations produced yet another upset as South Africa defeated tournament favourites Morocco 2-0 in Tuesday’s night round of 16 tie in San Pedro.
Bafana Bafana finished second in Group E while the Atlas Lions expectedly topped Group F ahead of DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.
Indeed, Walid Regragui’s side were tipped to win a second AFCON title and first since 1976 as the top-ranked African team. Things however did not go according to the script for the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists.
They were first denied a goal in the 33rd minute after VAR ruled out Abde Ezzalzouli’s effort for offside. South Africa then took the lead in the 57th minute through Evidence Makgopa’s fine strike.
Morocco had the opportunity to equalise in the 85th minute from the penalty spot, however Achraf Hakimi’s effort hit the cross bar. It got worse for the Lions in added time when Sofyan Amrabat was given a straight red card for a dangerous foul in front of the box.
South Africa delivers a stuning performance to get past Morocco to the QUARTER FINALS.
FULL TIME⏱️
Morocco???????? 0-2 ????????South Africa#Afrosport #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 #MRARSA pic.twitter.com/W1GYXhEbSq— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) January 30, 2024
The resultant freekick was converted by Teboho Mokoena to take South Africa into the AFCON quarter-finals for the sixth time in their history where they will meet Cape Verde.
