Morocco sealed qualification to the round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations with a convincing 3–0 victory over Zambia, bringing the Chipolopolo’s campaign to an end.

Ayoub El Kaabi scored twice, opening the scoring with a header in the eighth minute before later adding a spectacular bicycle kick that was controversially awarded after the assistant referee initially ruled it offside. Brahim Diaz scored Morocco’s second goal as the hosts secured a comfortable win.

Zambia struggled to create chances and failed to register a single shot on target. The defeat saw the 2012 AFCON winners eliminated from the tournament with two points from their group matches, having drawn 1–1 against Mali and 0–0 with Comoros.

Sichone post-match reaction

Reacting after the match, Zambia coach Moses Sichone expressed his disappointment with the result.

“A hard day for us. This is not what we expected, but that’s how football is,” Sichone told a press conference. “Looking at how the game went on, I think we gave too much respect to Morocco, and also some players looked to be nervous.

“Like I said, we have a lot of young players, but also I must congratulate Morocco; they had put in more pressure even when we tried to build from behind and they also made the game more difficult.”

Sichone was also critical of Senegalese referee Issa Sy’s performance and accused him of showing bias towards the hosts.

“Also the goals we conceded were just like a present, and also looking at the way the referee officiated the game, I think I must say this is unacceptable. I am sure everyone saw how he officiated the game; my players were being given yellow cards, and also he was just one-sided,” bemoaned Sichone.

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