World Cup Cinderella Morocco lose to South Africa, shockingly crash out of Africa Cup of Nations
South Africa won 2-0 over a 10-man Morocco
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1 min read
The Africa Cup of Nations delivered yet another upset on Tuesday when tournament favorites Morocco were knocked out of the competition after losing their round of 16 match to South Africa, 2-0
Morocco dominated but went down 1-0 in the 57th minute thanks to a goal from Evidence Makgopa, which preceded a series of unfortunate events for the Atlas Lions. They earned a penalty in the 84th minute that was their best chance to find an equalizer and force the match to extra time, but Achraf Hakimi failed to convert the spot kick. Things got worse in the 94th minute when Sofyan Amrabat saw red and South Africa put the final nail in the coffin a minute later when Teboho Mokoena scored from a freekick to seal the deal.
It was an uneven performance for Morocco, who had a slight edge in possession but outshot South Africa 12-4. Still, Morocco put just two shots on target while South Africa had an impressive finishing day -- they put three of their shots on goal and scored two of them.
The surprise elimination for Morocco is in stark contrast to their accomplishments just over a year ago when they became the first African nation to make the semifinals of the World Cup. They came into the AFCON as one of the regional heavyweights as a result and a fairly straightforward group stage campaign in which they won two of their three games, which only cemented their status as a contender to win the tournament. They now fall short of their aim to win the AFCON for the first time since 1976.
Morocco are far from the first notable side to exit the competition earlier than expected. Most notable among them are reigning champions Senegal, who were ousted in the round of 16 by hosts Ivory Coast on Monday in a penalty shootout. Egypt and Cameroon were also eliminated in this round by DR Congo and Nigeria, respectively, while Ghana crashed out in the group stage.
Nigeria are now arguably the favorites to win the AFCON but a tournament full of surprises means the Super Eagles will have to take each game ahead of them seriously, including quarterfinal opponent Angola.
As for South Africa, they are off to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019 and will face Cape Verde on Saturday for their first semifinal berth since 2000.
