Before the last games of the AFCON group stage, only Morocco was safe. Everybody else had a chance to either qualify for the knockout phase or to go home. Zambia had a chance to get through with a draw or a win, but they were at the mercy of another match as Tanzania also had a chance with a win. After 90 minutes finally it was all clear: The Atlas Lions won and as the leader of the group will play against South Africa in the Round of 16, and they also helped hosts Ivory Coast to get through as one of the best placed third-teams in the tournament. But the Elephants will face AFCON champions Senegal in the knockout stage, and apart from this derby, the Nigeria – Cameroon game will also be a fantastic match in the Round of 16. Congo survived against Tanzania but as a „reward“ will face AFCON‘s runners up Egypt in the next round.AFCON – Round of 16 ties are set:🇳🇬 Nigeria vs 🇨🇲 Cameroon🇦🇴 Angola vs 🇳🇦 Namibia🇨🇻 Cape Verde vs 🇲🇷 Mauritania🇲🇦 Morocco vs 🇿🇦 South Africa🇪🇬 Egypt vs 🇨🇩 DR Congo🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea vs 🇬🇳 Guinea🇲🇱 Mali vs 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso🇸🇳 Senegal vs 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast— 𝕮𝖍𝖎𝖊𝖋 𝕯𝖆𝖛𝖎𝖉 R (@Chiefdavid_RF) January 24, 2024 Unlike former Algeria coach Belmadi, who decided to rest his best players in a crucial match against Mauritania (and lost), Morocco coach Walid Regragui decided to go all in in the last game, and picked his strongest 11, with West Ham’s Aguerd, United’s Amrabat, former Chelsea star Ziyech, ex Saints man Boufal, and Paris Saint-Germain’s Hakimi all in the team. Just before the match, it was revealed that Regragui has been given a four-game ban — with two suspended — following heated scenes at the end of the team’s Africa Cup of Nations game against Congo, so he had to watch the game from the stands. The Moroccan football federation said that they will appeal, but until then, he remains out of the dugout. But with such a strong squad and with everything in place, the fourth squad in the world had no problem to win against Zambia, who needed at least a point in order to advance. Morocco was dominant and held the ball more then 70% of time during the game, and captain Ziyech scored the only goal in the 39th minute. The Atlas Lions had their chances in the second half too, but failed to use them, but in the end, it didn‘t matter as they won the Group F and will face South Africa.A Morocco goal for Ivory Coast.Hakim Ziyech fires the Atlas Lions in front against Zambia.#AFCON2023 #AFCON2024#AFCONwithHFpic.twitter.com/ncsEJyDox1— H/F (@hfworld_) January 24, 2024 Just like Zambia, Tanzania also had a chance to qualify as they didn‘t depend on anybody else (like Ivory Coast for example), but only on themselves, but that proved to be the main problem, since they showed nothing. In their crucial game, the Taifa Stars had zero shots on target for 90 minutes. Congo was not much better and the fact that the best chance of the match between both clubs came in the 77th minute says it all.AFCON 2023- GROUP STAGERound 3WednesdayMali – Namibia 0-0Tunisia – South Africa 0-0Zambia – Morocco 0-1 (0-1)/Ziyech 37/Tanzania – DR Congo 0-0
