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Bafana Bafana’s defeat to Morocco made the nation hold its breath in anticipation until late on Monday to see if South Africa will be among the best third-placed teams to sneak into the Afcon knockout stage.
As things stand, Bafana are among the four third-placed teams and they moved to third in the queue of the sides waiting to snatch the last four slots to reach the next round.
South Africa’s hopes were boosted by Kenya who lost 3-0 to Senegal on Monday night, just a few hours after M’bark Boussoufa’s late goal downed Bafana at Al Salam Stadium.
With their victory, the Atlas Lions of Morocco finished as Group D winners, while Ivory Coast sealed their runners-up spot with a 4-1 thrashing of Namibia to advance automatically to the last 16.
It is highly unlikely that Benin and Angola can put a spanner in the works in their respective final matches of Group F on Tuesday.
The Squirrels of Benin face the already qualified Cameroon, while the Palancas Negras of Angola meet Mali in the last match of the evening.
The four best teams among those ranked third at the end of the group phase are determined by:
• Greater number of points obtained in all group matches;
• Goal difference resulting from all group matches;
• Greater number of goals scored in all group matches and;
• Drawing of lots by the CAF organising committee.
Also likely to qualify after Tuesday fixtures are Ghana and Tunisia, who face Guinea-Bissau and Mauritania, respectively.
But let’s all wait until the final whistle late on Tuesday.
Qualified teams (advanced automatically): Egypt, Uganda, Madagascar, Nigeria, Algeria, Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon
* Ghana and Tunisia are likely to progress depending on their results on Tuesday
Best third-placed sides: Guinea, DR Congo, South Africa, Kenya
* Benin and Angola can still sneak in but their status will be determined by Tuesday results
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