Hosts Morocco forced to wait for Afcon knockout place after Mali draw
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
Morocco's Brahim Diaz shooting from the penalty spot to put the hosts ahead against Mali during their 1-1 draw in the Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat on Dec 26.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
RABAT – Morocco missed the chance to guarantee their spot in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) after Lassine Sinayoko’s second-half penalty earned Mali a 1-1 draw with the hosts on Dec 26.
The match was a tale of two spot kicks, with Brahim Diaz giving Morocco the lead deep in first-half stoppage time and Sinayoko equalising on 64 minutes.
The stalemate at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat meant Morocco have yet to confirm their place in the knockout phase, although they are on top of Group A with four points from two matches.
Mali are behind them in second place on two points alongside Zambia, who drew 0-0 with minnows Comoros earlier in Casablanca.
Morocco next face Zambia on Dec 29 and a win against the 2012 champions will ensure that the hosts go through as group winners.
“We’ll look back at the second half and see what the problem was but we didn’t play the way we did in the first half. We didn’t impose our game and had to drop off. The penalty changed the game a bit,” Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi told broadcaster beIN Sports.
“We go into the third game with the same approach, to win the game and finish top of the group.”
Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi, the 2025 African Player of the Year, was again an unused substitute as he continues his recovery from an ankle injury he picked up while playing for Paris Saint-Germain at the start of November.
His former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, the current Real Madrid star and France captain, was among the spectators in the crowd of 63,844 and appeared to be wearing a Morocco jersey with Hakimi’s No. 2 on it.
With Hakimi on the sidelines, Mbappe’s Real Madrid teammate Diaz was the main attraction on the pitch – the No. 10 forced a good save from Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra on 17 minutes and then played a key part in the incident which led to the penalty just before the interval.
Mali defender Nathan Gassama brushed the ball with his hand as he tried to stop Diaz from dribbling past him inside the box, and the referee eventually awarded a spot kick following a lengthy look at the video assistant referee monitor.
However, Walid Regragui’s side, the best team in Africa at 11th according to the FIFA rankings, could not build on that as Mali won a penalty of their own just after the hour mark.
Auxerre striker Sinayoko kept his cool to stroke in the reward and restore parity.
Elsewhere, Mohamed Salah scored as 10-man Egypt beat South Africa 1-0 in Agadir in Group B to become the first team to qualify for the knockout stages.
The Liverpool star converted a penalty on 45 minutes, and South Africa were denied a spot kick late in the second half when Yasser Ibrahim appeared to handle the ball inside the box.
On Dec 27, former Liverpool star Sadio Mane snatched a 69th-minute equaliser for Senegal in the 1-1 draw in Tangier, after the Democratic Republic of Congo had gone ahead through Cedric Bakambu.
Both teams are tied on four points each in Group D, with Benin on three after claiming a first-ever victory at the tournament, thanks to Yohan Roche’s deflected winner in the 1-0 success against Botswana in Rabat. AFP, REUTERS
