The national men’s football team Bafana Bafana are through to the round of 16 at the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations being played in Ivory Coast.

On Wednesday night, South Africa and Tunisia played to a goalless draw in their crucial Group E game and this saw them advance to the knockout rounds for the first time in 22-years.

In the other Group E game, Namibia and the leaders Mali, also played to a goalless stalemate which resulted in the standing remaining unchanged.

It only gets tougher for South Africa as they will now face the Atlas Lions, Morocco, on Tuesday in the round of 16.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists, Morocco, beat Zambia 1-0 to remain at the top of Group F, while Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo shared points in a goalless draw.

The Bafana coach Hugo Broos said he is a very happy man indeed.

“I’m sitting here as a happy coach. Today I saw a family, I saw a team who wanted just one thing, to qualify,” said Broos.

“I want to win every match. When I came here, I knew there was a possibility to have a good team.

“You always have to have some goals to achieve. Our first goal was to pass the group stages, even though we were not in an easy group with Tunisia, Mali and Namibia.

“We need these types of tournaments to become better. Excuse me - it’s not a lack of respect, but we can’t progress if we face teams like Lesotho. We played against Tunisia, we played against Namibia, maybe next time we play against Morocco.”

Tuesday night’s knockout game against Morocco at Stade de San Pédro will kick-off at 22:00.

Round of 16 fixtures:

Saturday, 27 January

19:00 - Angola vs. Namibia

22:00 - Nigeria vs. Cameroon

Sunday, 28 January

19:00 - Equatorial Guinea vs. Guinea

22:00 - Egypt vs. DRC

Monday, 29 January

19:00 - Cape Verde vs. Mauritania

22:00 - Senegal vs. Ivory Coast

Tuesday, 30 January

19:00 - Mali vs. Burkina Faso

22:00 - South Africa vs. Morocco

Morgan Piek OFM Sport