MATCH FACTS: Hosts Morocco face South Africa in quarter-finals of TotalEnergies CAF U17 Africa Cup of Nations

Hosts Morocco will have a difficult test when they host South Africa in their TotalEnergies CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-final at the El Bachir Stadium in Mohammedia on Thursday  (kick-off 20:00 local time / 19:00 GMT).

Group A winners Morocco topped their group undefeated with two wins and a draw, while South Africa were second in Group B with a win, a draw and a loss.

This is the second meeting at the TotalEnergies CAF U17 AFCON between the sides.

At their previous meeting at the finals, Morocco won 2-0 when the sides met in their first group game at the 2023 edition. 

Current Morocco U17 coach Nabil Baha was an unused substitute when Morocco and South Africa played out to a 1-1 draw at the group stages of the 2004 TotalEnergies CAF AFCON finals, a result which saw Morocco progress with Nigeria, while South Africa were eliminated.

Morocco’s record against COSAFA member nations at the finals reads P4 W2 D1 L1.

Morocco are facing a COSAFA member nation for the fifth time, they have previously come up against Southern African opposition at the competition in 2013, defeating Botswana 3-0 in the group stages on home soil.

They won against South Africa and lost to Zambia in the 2023 group stages, while they drew with Zambia in the group stages at the current finals.  

South Africa’s overall record against North African opponents at the finals reads P3 W1 D1 L1.

South Africa’s only other games at the tournament against teams from North Africa ended in a 2-2 draw against Tunisia at the 2007 group stages. They defeated Egypt 4-3 in their opening game at the current finals. 

South Africa’s games against North African teams have generally been high scoring with three previous games producing 13 goals, with South Africa scoring six and conceding seven.

South Africa’s record in two previous tournament meetings against host nations reads P2 L2.

South Africa are facing a host nation at the finals for the third time. In 2005 they lost to Gambia 2-1 in the semi-finals, while in 2007 they opened up their tournament with a 2-0 loss to hosts Togo.

MOROCCO FACTS
·      Morocco progressed to their second successive quarter-final and have reached the knockout stages for the third time along with 2013 and 2023. They were eliminated in the group stages in 2019.

·      As hosts, this is the second time Morocco have made it to the knockout stages. In 2013 they lost in the semi-finals 2-1 to Cote d’Ivoire and then lost to Tunisia in the play-off for third place after a 1-1 draw on penalties.

·      Morocco’s only other quarter-final appearance saw them eliminate hosts Algeria in 2023, winning 3-0 in Constantine. After overcoming the hosts Morocco, they defeated Mali on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the last-4 and lost to Senegal in the final 2-1.

·      Morocco’s overall record in the knockout rounds, with games decided on penalties regarded as wins and losses, reads P5 W2 L3.

·      Morocco have been involved in two penalty shoot-outs at the finals, against Tunisia in 2013 in the play-off for third place. A 1-1 draw and a mammoth penalty shoot saw Tunisia win 11-10 on penalties.

·      Their other penalty shoot-out was in the semi-final in 2023, a 0-0 draw saw them progress, winning 6-5 on spot kicks over Mali.

·      In the knockout rounds, Morocco’s only win in open play was against Algeria in their 2023 quarter-final.

·      Morocco progressed through the group stages undefeated, the second time along with 2013 (W2 D1) that they have manged to do so.

·      Morocco began the current finals with a 5-0 win over Uganda, their biggest win at the tournament. They then drew 0-0 with Zambia and won 3-0 against Uganda.

·      Morocco have kept three successive clean-sheets at the finals for the first time.

·      Morocco progressed through the group phase without conceding a goal for the first time. They and Senegal are the only teams yet to concede a goal at the current finals.

·      Morocco’s three clean-sheets at the current finals are the joint most they have kept at a single finals along with 2023. Should they keep another they would have kept four clean-sheets at a single finals for the first time,

·      Morocco have scored eight goals at the current finals, the joint most they have scored in a group stage campaign along with 2013. Twelve years ago they ended with 10 goals in five games.

·      Illies Bel Moukhthar has three goals for Morocco at the current finals, another goal will see him go level with Younes Bnou Marzouk, who scored four goals at the 2013 finals for Morocco. No Moroccan player has scored more than four goals at a single edition of the finals.

SOUTH AFRICA FACTS
·      South Africa began with a 4-3 win over Egypt, then drew 0-0 with Cameroon before losing their final game 2-0 against Burkina Faso.

·      They reached the knockout rounds for a fourth time along with 2005, 2015 and 2023.

·      This is their second quarter-final game, their previous one in 2023 ended in a 5-0 loss against Senegal.

·      South Africa have managed to progress beyond the group stages in four of their five finals appearances, their only previous group stage elimination was in 2007.

·      South Africa’s overall record in the knockout reads P5 W1 L4.

·      Their one win in the knockout stages was a 1-0 triumph over Nigeria in the 2015 semi-finals.

·      South Africa have lost four games in the knockout stages, losing to 2-1 to Gambia and 1-0 to Cote d’Ivoire in the 2005 semi-finals and third-place play-off. They also lost 2-0 to Mali in the 2015 final and 5-0 to Senegal 5-0 in the quarter-finals in 2023.

·      All five of South Africa’s knockout stage games have been decided in open play, they are yet to feature in a game decided on penalties.

·      All of the previous three teams that have won against South Africa in direct elimination matches in the knockout stages has gone onto become champions, Gambia in 2005, Mali in 2015 and Senegal in 2023.

·      South Africa have failed to score in their last two games at the finals. They have never previously gone three games in a row without scoring.

·      South Africa will be facing a team from outside of West Africa in the knockout stages for the first time, their other knockout games saw them face Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal.

·      South Africa failed to have a shot on target in their 0-0 draw against Cameroon, but managed to have three on target in their 2-0 loss to Burkina Faso.

·      Despite losing to Burkina Faso, South Africa managed to have 74.1% of the possession.

·      They completed 562 passes in their loss to Burkina Faso, the most that they have managed in a single game at the current finals. They had an 86% passing accuracy.

·      South Africa goalkeeper Lwandiso Radebe made four saves in their loss to Burkina Faso. Across two appearances at the current finals he has made 13 saves when facing 15 shots.