Morocco became the latest giants to topple in an Africa Cup of Nations shocker when they fell 2-0 to South Africa on Tuesday, while Mali also booked a place in the quarter-finals.
Evidence Makgopa and Teboho Mokoena scored in the second half for Bafana Bafana, who once again proved a bogeyman for the Atlas Lions, whose Achraf Hakimi missed a penalty.
Since becoming the first African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar two years ago, Morocco have lost two of their 13 matches, with both defeats coming against South Africa.
The shock 16 result in the rugged seaside town of San-Pedro in Ivory Coast came after Mali beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Korhogo with Lassine Sinayoko scoring what proved to be the key goal.
Morocco join defending champions Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Cameroon and Burkina Faso as the teams ranked among Africa’s top 10 heading home early.
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On Saturday, South Africa face Cape Verde in Yamoussoukro after hosts Ivory Coast and Mali clash in Bouake.
In the other quarter-finals, a Victor Osimhen-inspired Nigeria face Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo meet Guinea on Friday.
South Africa, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and DR Congo are former champions while the other four title contenders are hoping to conquer Africa for the first time.
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While Morocco, thanks to their World Cup heroics, were favored to eliminate South Africa, two factors suggested there was a chance of a shock.
South Africa had won two and drawn two of their five previous Cup of Nations encounters with Morocco since 1998.
And despite being an African powerhouse for decades, Morocco have consistently failed in the Cup of Nations since their only triumph 48 years ago.
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Coach Walid Regraghi labeled the repeated setbacks an “African curse” and the former national team full-back saw a clinical South Africa earn a deserved victory.
Makgopa stayed just wide to fire Bafana in front on 57 minutes and Morocco missed a great chance to equalize when Hakimi fired a penalty onto the crossbar after.
A foul on Mokoena by Manchester United midfielder Sofian Amrabad led to a VAR review which ended in a straight red card as he was the last defender.
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Set-piece specialist Mokoena curled the free-kick past Yasin Bounu and high into the net at the near post.
Shinayoko scored his third Cup of Nations goal as Mali reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2013 by beating Burkina Faso 2-1 in Korchogo earlier on Tuesday.
An early Edmond Tapsoba own goal got Mali off to a good start in the last 16 and Shinayoko doubled the lead just after half-time.
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Captain Bertrand Traore reduced the arrears with a penalty for Burkina Faso, who had the ball in the net again only for Issoufu Dayo to be ruled offside.
The win was a welcome change of fortunes for Mali, who have had two first-round exits and two exits in the last 16 since finishing third in South Africa 11 years ago.
“It was a really tough match against a good team. We had to work really hard but I’m happy we finally got the result,” said Sinayoko.
We can celebrate this victory while keeping in the back of our minds that we still have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The match in the northern city of Ivory Coast started in 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) heat and it took Mali just 133 seconds to score the second-fastest goal of the tournament.
Amadou Haidara’s powerful header from a cross hit Tapsoba’s left foot and into the net for an own goal.
Watched by Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe from South Africa, football rarely enthralled the nearly 19,154 crowd by the half-hour mark.
Shinajoko then stung the fingers of goalkeeper Herve Coffey with a powerful shot from close range that was saved.
Mali took a two-goal lead two minutes into the second half as Shinayoko parried Tapsoba and beat Kofi with a corner kick.
But the lead was halved on 57 minutes when Boubacar Kouyate handled a cross and Traore converted his third penalty of the tournament as Mali goalkeeper Giguey Diarra dived the wrong way.
Long-serving defender Dayo thought he had equalized in the final minute of normal time with a free-kick header beyond Diarra, but it was ruled offside.
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