Pre-tournament favourites, Morocco will renew their rivalry with South Africa when both sides face off at 2023 Africa Cup of Nations round of 16.
Morocco progressed into the round of 16 having amassed 7 points from a possible 9 with victories over Tanzania and Zambia and a draw against D.R Congo. The good news for the Moroccans is that of coach Walid Regragui, who is set to return to the technical area after having a touchline ban overturned on appeal. On the flip side, the Atlas Lions go into the contest with various injury concerns to key players such as that of forward, Sofiane Boufal, who will miss the game due to a hamstring problem he sustained with his Qatari clubside, Al Rayyan. Influential winger, Hakim Ziyech is also recovering from an ankle injury he picked up in the game against Zambia where he scored the winner. Although the former Chelsea forward returned to training on Monday, he was limited to individual running without taking part in any contact training.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Bafana Bafana go into the match on a run of two successive clean sheets as well as having recorded their largest ever AFCON win – a 4-0 victory over neighbours, Namibia. In five AFCON meetings, South Africa have won twice while Morocco have won once with the two other matches ending in stalemates. The last time both nations faced off in an AFCON knockout match, it was a 2-1 win for the Bafana Bafana at the 1998 edition of the tourney. Sudanese referee, Mahmood Ali Mahmood Ismail will have his hands full as the rivalry between both teams can be feisty sometimes. South Africa recorded a 2-1 win over Morocco during the qualifying series of the tournament and will need to repeat that feat to give themselves a chance of making the finals – no Southern African team has reached the final since Zambia’s surprise win in 2012.
It is pertinent to state that both teams have struggled in the elimination rounds of the tournament; South Africa have advanced in only two of the last eight AFCONs they participated in while Morocco has advanced only once in their last five outings. The winner of this tie will face surprise packages, Cape Verde in the quarterfinals.
