RABAT: Ayoub El Kaabi’s brace helped Morocco to a 3-0 win over Zambia on Monday as the Africa Cup of Nations hosts cruised into the last 16 while South Africa beat Zimbabwe 3-2 to also secure a berth in the knockout phase.

African player of the year Achraf Hakimi made his comeback from almost two months out injured for Morocco as Mali also qualified for the next round and Mohamed Salah was rested for Egypt’s 0-0 draw against Angola.

Morocco are the tournament favourites as the host nation and Africa’s top-ranked team but they were booed off by supporters following a 1-1 draw against Mali in their last outing.

Nevertheless, Walid Regragui’s team knew a win against Zambia at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat would guarantee their progress to the next round in first place in Group ‘A’ and they outclassed their opponents.

Olympiakos striker El Kaabi nodded in an early opener and scored an overhead kick shortly after half-time, with both of his goals set up by the outstanding Azzedine Ounahi.

In between, Real Madrid attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz swept home Morocco’s second goal on 27 minutes at the end of a fine team move, again involving Ounahi.

Diaz has found the net in all three of Morocco’s games so far and he and El Kaabi join Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez on three goals at the top of the Cup of Nations scoring charts.

Captain Hakimi came off the bench in the 64th minute for his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury in action for Paris St Germain at the beginning of November.

Morocco will stay in Rabat for a last-16 tie in the same stadium on Sunday against one of the best third-place finishers.

“Scoring early on changes everything,” said Regragui. “We need to continue like this but not get carried away and keep our feet on the ground. From now on, every match will be a final”

Regragui had come in for stinging criticism after the first two games and issued an apology on social media after the disappointing showing against Mali, which ended a record-setting run of 19 successive victories for the national team.

But after Monday’s triumph, he went out of his way to praise the supporters, calling for unity in the quest to win Morocco’s first Cup of Nations title in a half century.

“We play as a team of 12. We feel the whole country behind us. The supporters shouted and sang from the first minute. It was a benchmark match in terms of unity,” he said.

Zambia go out and have now failed to win any of their 12 AFCON matches across four tournament appearances since lifting the trophy in 2012.

Mali go through in second place after a 0-0 draw with Comoros in Casablanca, a game they ended with 10 men after Amadou Haidara was sent off.

It was a third stalemate in as many matches for the Eagles, who will remain in Morocco’s largest city for a last-16 tie on Saturday.

Earlier, Oswin Appollis converted a late penalty to give South Africa victory against Zimbabwe in Marrakesh as Bafana Bafana qualified for the knockout stage.

Rising star Tshepang Moremi gave South Africa an early lead with a deflected effort.

However, falling behind motivated Zimbabwe and they deservedly levelled on 19 minutes thanks to the individual brilliance of Tawanda Maswanhise from Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.

Maswanhise gained possession inside the South African half, dribbled past two opponents and fired the ball wide of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams into the far corner.

South Africa began the second period aggressively and regained the lead on 50 minutes through Burnley striker Lyle Foster, for whom it was a second goal of the tournament.

Zimbabwe brought it back to 2-2 on 73 minutes when Aubrey Modiba conceded an own goal, but Appollis then netted from an 82nd-minute penalty to give Bafana the lead for the third time, which they retained.

“Once again we fell asleep after a good start. We continuously lost possession,” said 73-year-old South Africa coach Hugo Broos. “Our passing was bad at times and we should have concentrated on retaining possession in the closing minutes instead of seeking a fourth goal. We have to work on controlling games.”

Egypt, who rested stars like captain Salah with first place already assured, topped Group ‘B’ with seven points after their draw against Angola in Agadir. South Africa finished with six points, Angola two and Zimbabwe one.

“We are ready to face any team in the round of 16, the next stage will be tough and the competition is strong. We will work on increasing the positives in the next match and correcting the negatives,” Egypt coach Hossam Hassan, who won the Africa Cup of Nations three times as a player in 1986, 1998 and 2006, said.

“I am satisfied with the performance of those who played for the first time in the Africa Cup of Nations. The aim of the Angola match was to test more players.”

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2025