South African national team coach Hugo Bruce expressed his confidence in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2023 African Cup of Nations, and overcame the obstacle of his Moroccan counterpart in the quarter-finals next Tuesday.

The Belgian coach said, in statements highlighted by the official website of the South African Football Association, “We know this team (Morocco) because we played against them before. We also defeated them, and nothing is impossible.”

Bruce added, “We have seen that nothing is impossible in this edition of the African Cup of Nations finals, and I am confident in my team players, and I am certain that they are capable of achieving this, and I know that they have confidence in themselves as well.”

Morocco, the highest ranked team in Africa, will be the favorite to beat South Africa at the Estadio Laurent Bouco in San Pedro. But Bruce is confident that his team can pull off the upset.

He added, “If we win against Morocco, we have a great chance to play in the final. We will know that we won against a very good team, and in the next round we will avoid a great team.”

The Bafana Bafana team defeated the Moroccan team 2-1 in the qualifiers for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.

The South African national team showed a good level in the group stage, as it was able to achieve a major victory (4-0) over Namibia, and also drew 0-0 with Tunisia, to qualify as runner-up in Group Five, behind leaders Mali.

On the other hand, the Moroccan national team – the fourth team in the Qatar World Cup 2022 – topped the sixth (last) group, with 7 points; From two wins (3-0 over Tanzania, 1-0 over Zambia), and one draw (1-1 with the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

When you look at the history of direct confrontations between Morocco 🇲🇦 and South Africa 🇿🇦, you will find it a history with very close statistics, which explains that our interviews are always characterized by competition and difficulty!

South Africa defeated us three times, while we only won twice!

They have a historical lead by one victory. pic.twitter.com/7rgfGqlFNF

— 𝑨𝑩𝑶𝑼𝑱𝑨𝑫 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑓𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑒 (@AbouJad_Talks) January 25, 2024

The Moroccan national team won the African Cup of Nations once, in the 1976 edition in Ethiopia, while the “Boys” team also won the continental title once, in the 1996 edition.

The two teams met in 8 previous confrontations, and the result was 4 draws, one victory for Morocco and 3 victories for South Africa.

The first confrontation dates back to the quarter-finals of the 1998 African Cup of Nations, when the Atlas Lions lost by two goals to one against South Africa.

The two teams also faced off in the third round of the group stage of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, which ended with Morocco’s victory with a clean goal.

The coastal city of San Pedro in Ivory Coast will host the match between Morocco and South Africa, on the grounds of the “Laurent Bouquet” stadium.

Officially 🔴✍️

Morocco faces South Africa in the final 16 💥 pic.twitter.com/t2btaTyswL

— EPL World (@EPLworld) January 24, 2024

The winner of the Morocco-South Africa match will meet the winner of the Cape Verde-Mauritania match, in the quarter-finals.