Bafana Bafana advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals after eliminating Morocco following a 2-0 victory at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San-Pedro.

Signs of In San-Pedro, Ivory Coast, just before the hour mark, Makgopa gave South Africa the lead. But five minutes from time, Morocco had a penalty kick that could have tied the game.

Hakimi, a star player for Paris Saint-Germain, missed the target with a kick that went over the bar and off the top of the bar. Things got worse for Morocco when Sofyan Amrabat was sent off in stoppage time, and Teboho Mokoena scored South Africa’s second goal from the free kick that followed.

Bafana Bafana will play Cape Verde in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Yamoussokro. Cape Verde is a small country that has been one of the tournament’s surprises so far.

“We came here with the first aim of getting out of our group,” said South Africa’s Belgian coach Hugo Broos.

“We were delighted to do that but you can’t be certain of going any further when you come up against Morocco.

“On Saturday we will once again be playing against a dangerous team and we can’t make the mistake of underestimating them,” he added of Cape Verde.

Meanwhile, Morocco, which made it to the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup, is the latest big name on the continent to be knocked out of the Cup of Nations. This comes just 24 hours after hosts Ivory Coast eliminated champions Senegal on penalties.

They wanted to win their second AFCON title, 48 years after their first one. This would follow up on their amazing run to the final four in Qatar a little over a year ago.

They were knocked out along with Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. This means that none of the five best-ranked African countries or the four semi-finalists from the last tournament will be in the quarterfinals.

“We are very disappointed because we came here with the ambition of winning,” admitted Morocco coach Walid Regragui.

“Going out so early was not in our plans but this competition is very difficult.

“I take responsibility for everything that has happened. I never hide. Today I have failed,” he added.

South Africa took the lead in the 57th minute. Eight of the starting players were from Mamelodi Sundowns, which is the best club in the country.

Makgopa, a striker for Orlando Pirates, was set free by Themba Zwane. He scored past Yassine Bounou, the custodian for Morocco.

But Morocco, who were missing Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal because they were hurt, had a great chance to tie late on.

Ayoub El Kaabi’s shot from point blank range hit the arm of South African defender Mothobi Mvala, and they loudly called for a penalty.

At first, the Sudanese referee waved play on. However, after being called over to look at what happened again, he gave the penalty.

Hakimi, who came in second place to Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen for the award for African Footballer of the Year, kicked the ball, but it missed the mark.

Later, in the second minute of extra time, Amrabat of Manchester United was sent off for a late challenge on Mokoena, a midfielder from South Africa who was running towards the penalty area. This left Morocco with 10 players on the pitch.

At first, Amrabat got a second yellow, but after a review, the punishment was changed to a straight red.

The great Mokoena, who played for Sundowns, then scored from the free kick to end the game against Morocco for good.