The elimination of Morocco by South Africa in the round of 16 of the CAN confirms that it is not good to be cited among the favorites.
Terrible disillusionment for Morocco. The semi-finalist of the last World Cup in fact fell in the round of 16 of the CAN, of which the Atlas Lions were legitimately one of the big favorites. Opposed to South Africa, Walid Regragui’s men were beaten 2-0, victims of the efficiency of Bafana Bafana.
With Morocco, a new big name disappears after Algeria in the group stage, then Egypt, Cameroon and Senegal, the defending champion, in the round of 16. This CAN is one of all surprises and a staggering statistic bears witness to this: none of the eight teams qualified for the quarter-finals of the previous edition in Cameroon are in the running this year.
Three qualified for the quarters were not even at the CAN two years ago
Among the eight teams that played in the quarter-finals two years ago, two were eliminated in the group stage (Tunisia and Gambia) and six failed in the round of 16 (Senegal, Morocco, Guinea). Equatorial, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Egypt).
Conversely, among the eight qualified for the quarter-finals, four were eliminated in the round of 16 two years ago (Cape Verde, Mali, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, one was eliminated from the group stage (Guinea) and three had not even qualified for the CAN (Angola, South Africa and DR Congo).
