Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates goal with teammates during the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Afcon Finals football match between Gabon and Morocco at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon on 18 January 2022 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix
by
Staff Reporter
Monday Jan 24, 2022. 14:00
Morocco will be looking to avoid an upset when they face Malawi in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) game on Tuesday.
Kick-off is at 9:00 pm CAT.
The Last 16 match is set to be played at the Stade Omnisport Ahmadou Ahidjo in the capital city of Cameroon, Yaounde.
The Atlas Lions reached the knockout phase after winning Group C having recorded two wins and one draw which came against Gabon.
Vahid Halilhodžić, the Morocco head coach, is under pressure to win this year’s tournament after he decided to omit the Atlas Lions’ key attacker Hakim Ziyech from his squad for the competition.
Sofiane Boufal has been the Atlas Lions’ best performer in Cameroon thus far having scored twice in the group stage and he could be the man to lead the North African giants to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Malawi secured their place in the knockout phase for the first time as one of the four best third-placed teams after finishing third in Group B.
Their head coach Meck Mwase has overachieved by guiding the Flames to the Last 16 and he will be looking to create more history in the biggest football tournament in Africa.
Frank Mhango will be key to the Flames’ ambitions of advancing to the quarter-finals having scored twice as the Southern African side recorded its only win in this year’s competition which was against Zimbabwe.
The last meeting between Morocco and Malawi was on 22 March 2019.
Malawi managed to hold Morocco to a 0-0 draw in the 2019 AFCON qualifier at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre.
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