AFCON23Q: Zambia shocks Cote d’Ivoire, S. Africa defeats Morocco for the first time in 21 years

Zambia thrashed the Ivory Coast 3-0 in Ndola to cap off a happy day for southern Africa and earn a spot in the finals for the first time since 2015.

Saturday’s 2-1 Africa Cup of Nations qualification loss in South Africa was Morocco’s first defeat since making it to the 2022 World Cup semifinals due to a mistake by goalkeeper Munir el Kajoui.

Zambia thrashed the Ivory Coast 3-0 in Ndola to cap off a happy day for southern Africa and earn a spot in the finals for the first time since 2015.

Prior to their exciting Group K match in Johannesburg, which attracted 50,000 spectators despite near-freezing temperatures, South Africa and World Cup pioneers Morocco had already qualified.

Five minutes in, El Kajoui, filling in for a rested Yassine Bounou, let a Percy Tau cross escape his grasp and find the back of the net. On the half-hour mark, Zakhele Lepasa added a second.

On the hour, Hakim Ziyech halved the deficit, but Morocco, who last December became the first African and Arab nation to reach the World Cup semifinals, was unable to score an equalizer.

The Atlas Lions won against Brazil and drew with Peru and Cape Verde in friendlies after coming in fourth in Qatar. The trip to Johannesburg signaled a comeback to competitive activity.

Hugo Broos, the coach of South Africa, stated that “we could have scored four or five goals against Morocco, who are currently the best team in Africa, and it is a great confidence booster to beat them.”

It was amazing to have so many people supporting us because we’ve been playing in front of sparse audiences lately. I think they left the stadium feeling extremely pleased to be South Africans.

Before losing to France in the semifinals in Qatar, Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui led the team to victories over Belgium, Spain, and Portugal. He afterwards declared he was “not unhappy with the result.”

“Call me crazy if you want, but sometimes a defeat teaches you more than a victory. After a demanding season of domestic and World Cup games, my guys were worn out.

Zambia defeated the Ivory Coast, which will host the finals from January 13 to February 11, winning all three of the points they needed to halt a string of three unsuccessful qualifying campaigns.

Zambia rapidly regressed after shocking the Ivorians by winning the 2012 final, failing to get past the group stage in the next two competitions.

The Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) situation got worse because they weren’t even eligible for the following three editions.

But those depressing memories were erased in front of a 50,000-person limit audience when Zambia won Group H for the fourth time in a row.

On minute 32, Serge Aurier made an own goal; on minute three of the second half, Patson Daka doubled the score; and on minute 55, Kings Kangwa finished off the rout.

Ivory Coast, a two-time winner, automatically qualifies as the hosts but participates in the qualifiers to get competitive match experience.

After losing 2-1 to Angola in Douala, the Central African Republic’s prospects of making their debut at the African championship are all but gone.

Geoffrey Kondogbia’s goal just after halftime in the Group E match against Angola was cancelled out by Felicio Milson’s goal, which put the minnows in trouble. Kialonda Gaspar had given Angola the early lead.

When goalie Dominique Youfeigane was dismissed on the 70th minute, the Central Africans, who were competing in Cameroon due to a lack of an international-standard stadium, were down to 10 men.

Equatorial Guinea defeated Tunisia 1-0 at Malabo to advance to the qualifying round as the tenth nation after the Ivory Coast, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, and Zambia.

With only one contender, Libya, losing 1-0 in Botswana, the Equatoguineans would have advanced from Group J regardless of the outcome thanks to Emilio Nsue’s late penalty conversion.

AFP