Morocco is the only North African country that has performed well in the Afcon so far. They are ranked 1st in Group F with 7 points, scoring 5 goals and conceding only 1, second only to Senegal in the group stage.
They have dominated all the matches and are comfortable in control, undefeated in their last 8 matches, and have won their last 6 matches, showing that they have class in many positions on the pitch, which is something that other teams lack. One of the teams that lacks this kind of confidence is South Africa, the opponent of this match. Despite finishing second in the group, South Africa's performance was mediocre, with a better head-to-head record than their opponents thanks to a 4-0 win over Namibia, which was their only goal in the Afcon so far.
Morocco have only lost 1 of their last 7 matches against South Africa and I don't think they will lose this match, I think South Africa's poor attack will struggle to match a well organized Morocco who will win this match and progress to the last 8.
Mali vs Burkina Faso on the same day. On the cards, I think this is a tough game to predict as both Mali and Burkina Faso are very good teams. I said Mali is the dark horse in this year's Afcon, and so far they have performed as I expected. They were in a tough group, but still managed to win 1, draw 2 and finish top of the table, which is impressive. Racine Sinyoako has been Mali's number one danger and I've been very impressed with his performance. He has been very effective in front of goal, and through his ability to be the central brain in the midfield, he has accurately demonstrated the strength of this team, which explains why they have only conceded 1 goal in this tournament.
