South Africa 0 Morocco 1: Baxter's men on the brink after Boussoufa strike

South Africa's defeat to Morocco means Ivory Coast has beaten it to a guaranteed last-16 spot at the Africa Cup of Nations.

South Africa's Themba Zwane (L) challenges Morocco's Nordin Amrabat.

South Africa is staring at an Africa Cup of Nations exit following a late 1-0 loss to Morocco in its final Group D game on Monday.

Bafana Bafana needed a win to guarantee its place in the last-16 but was beaten thanks to Moubarak Boussoufa's strike, allowing Ivory Coast to progress in second place in its stead thanks to a 4-1 defeat of Namibia.

Morocco was already sure of a place in the next round and always looked the more likely to find a breakthrough, with Achraf Hakimi rattling the crossbar in the second half before Boussoufa's 90th-minute goal.

It progresses as the group winner with nine points, while South Africa will have to wait to see if it has done enough to advance as one of the four best third-placed teams.

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Younes Belhanda came close to an opener in a dour first half in which South Africa offered little sign of scoring what would have been just its second goal of the tournament.

Thamsanqa Mkhize dragged a shot narrowly wide in a positive start to the second half, but it was Morocco which began to look more likely to score even after news of Ivory Coast's two-goal lead over Namibia must have begun to filter through.

Achraf was inches from a spectacular opener, his thunderous strike from 25 yards smashing off the underside of the crossbar and bouncing clear, before Youssef En-Nesyri failed to convert after rounding goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.

South Africa applied some late pressure to no avail and were undone when Boussoufa smashed a half-volley into the top-right corner after Stuart Baxter's men failed to clear their lines.