Rabat – The historical soccer saga between Morocco’s Atlas Lions and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana does not favor one team over the other. The two African powerhouses have crossed paths eight times since their first match in 1998, each achieving a pair of victories, with the remaining four encounters ending in draws.
The debut match of this storied rivalry took place during the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1998. Bafana Bafana edged their Moroccan rivals 2-1. The teams met again in the same event in 2002, with the South Africans again coming out on top, this time with a 3-1 victory. A friendly match in the same year saw the first draw between the teams, a goalless stalemate.
The Lions of the Atlas and Bafana Bafana resumed their competition in the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations, which ended in a 1-1 draw. The fifth face-off, taking place in the 2013 Africa Cup finals, also ended in a draw, this time a 2-2 tie. A friendly later that same year resulted in a similar impasse.
However, the tables turned in 2019 when the Moroccan national team clinched its first victory over South Africa with a 1-0 win in the Africa Cup of Nations finals. They added a second victory in 2022 during the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Ivory Coast.
The Moroccan Times.
