MATCH FACTS: Cote d’Ivoire hope history repeats itself in TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON semi-final against hosts Morocco
Hosts Morocco will take on Cote d’Ivoire in their TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-final at the El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia on Tuesday (kick-off 20:00 local time; 19:00 GMT).
This is the second meeting between Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire at the TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON. Their previous clash was also at the semi-final stage with Morocco as hosts in 2013. Cote d’Ivoire won that game 2-1.
The Ivoirians are meeting a host nation for the fourth time. Their record against the tournament hosts reads P3 W2 L1. They won 7-0 against Botswana at the group stages in 1999, defeated Morocco in the last four in 2013 and in between lost to Rwanda 1-0 in the semi-final in 2011.
Morocco have only faced West African teams in the last four. In addition to losing to Cote d’Ivoire in 2013, they overcame Mali on penalties after a 0-0 draw in 2023, winning the shoot-out 6-5.
MOROCCO FACTS
· Morocco are in their third semi-final, along with last four appearances in 2013 and 2023.
· All three of Morocco’s last four appearances have come in tournaments hosted in North Africa. This is the second time, along with 2013, that they reach the last four as hosts. They were runners up in 2023 with Algeria as hosts.
· Morocco’s tournament ended in 2013 when they were previously hosts against the Cote d’Ivoire at the semi-final stage. They then lost the play-off for third against Tunisia and ended fourth.
· In CAF age-group tournaments hosted by Morocco, they reached the final at the 1997 TotalEnergies CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations and won the tournament.
· Morocco are aiming to reach back-to-back finals at U17 level after they were runners up in 2023. The last team to reach consecutive finals was Mali, who did so in 2015 and 2017.
· Morocco are looking to become the fifth host nation to reach the final. Previous hosts to have made it to the deciding game are Gambia in 2005, Togo in 2007, Algeria in 2009 and Rwanda in 2011.
· All four previous hosts who reached the final did so in four successive tournaments between 2005 and 2011. The last host nation to reach the final was Rwanda in 2011.
· Morocco have conceded one goal at the finals through their four games, which was in their 3-1 win over South Africa in the quarter-finals.
· They have conceded the fewest goals of all the teams still remaining in the tournament.
· Morocco have scored 11 goals at the current finals, the most they have scored in a single edition, surpassing the 10 they managed on home soil in 2013.
· Morocco have scored the second most goals at the tournament thus far, only Burkina Faso (12) have netted more.
· Morocco’s win against South Africa in the last-8 was the second time they scored three goals in a knockout game at the finals. They also scored three in their 3-0 win against Algeria in the quarter-finals in 2023.
· Morocco’s Ziyad Baha has four goals at the current finals. He is the second Moroccan after Younes Bnou Marzouk to net four goals in a single edition. The latter scored four goals at the 2013 finals.
· Abdellah Ouazane has scored two goals for Morocco at the current finals and another goal will see him go level with his elder brother Zakaria, who scored three goals for Morocco at the 2023 finals.
COTE D’IVOIRE FACTS
· Cote d’Ivoire are appearing in the last four for a fourth time along with 2005, 2011 and 2013.
· Cote d’Ivoire reached this stage by defeating Central African Republic 6-1, drawing 0-0 with Angola and then defeating Mali 4-2 in the group stages, before overcoming defending champions Senegal on penalties in the quarter-finals after the game ended 0-0.
· Their record in the semi-finals with games decided on penalties recorded as wins and losses reads P3 W1 L2.
· They were Champions when Morocco hosted in 2013 and defeated the hosts in the last-4 on that occasion to reach the final, where they defeated Nigeria on penalties after a 1-1 draw. They won the shoot-out 5-4.
· Their other semi-final encounters saw them lose to Ghana in 2005. The game went into extra time before they lost 2-0. They also lost to Rwanda 1-0 in 2011.
· Cote d’Ivoire are facing a tournament host for the third time. Previously they lost against Rwanda in the 2011 semi-finals and won against Morocco in the 2013 Semi-final. All of Cote d’Ivoire’s games against tournament hosts have been in the last-4.
· They have been involved in two penalty shoot-outs and won the final in 2013 against Nigeria after a 1-1 draw they prevailed 5-4 in the shoot-out. At the current finals, a 0-0 draw in the quarter-final against Senegal was followed by a 5-3 win in the shoot-out.
· The 10 goals Cote d’Ivoire have scored at the current finals is the most they have netted in a single edition, overtaking the nine they managed in 2011.
· Cote d’Ivoire have received six yellow cards thus far, the joint most of all the semi-finalists along with Burkina Faso.
· Alynho Haidara is Cote d’Ivoire’s highest scorer at the current finals with six goals. He is the tournament’s second highest scorer.
· Haidara has scored his six goals from eight shots on target. Overall he has a shooting accuracy of 57.1%, which is only bettered by Burkina Faso’s Asharaf Tapsoba, who has a shooting accuracy of 62.5%.