After the thrilling excitement of the past couple of days at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Wednesday’s conclusion to Group E featured the first two scoreless draws in the competition hosted by Ivory Coast. Tunisia failed to get the victory they needed in a 0-0 result against second placed South Africa in Korhogo and the Eagles of Carthage are the one team from Group E who will not feature in the knockout stages. In San Pédro, Namibia did just enough to qualify beyond the group stage for the first time in their history, finishing as one of the four best third place teams following a 0-0 draw against Group E winners Mali.
Tunisia knew they were the one team in Group E who needed a victory but the story of their poor and ineffective attack continued against Bafana Bafana. South Africa played the role of disruptor throughout the ninety minutes and the task was easy for Bafana Bafana whose opponent were unable to show the urgency needed for a breakthrough. A couple of late opportunities for the Eagles of Carthage arrived but headed attempts from Haythem Jouini and Yassine Meriah failed to challenge South Africa goalkeeper Ronwen Williams.
It was the same story elsewhere between Mali and Namibia, who both knew they would advance with a draw. The Brave Warriors of Namibia were content to defend in numbers and Mali were not too interested in breaking the deadlock. A couple of chances for Mali in the second half caused some danger for the Namibian defense but overall it was a comfortable outing for both teams.
Mali advance as the group winners, South Africa finish in second place and Namibia progress as the third place team. Highlights from both matches on Wednesday are below.
Tunisia 0-0 South Africa
Mali 0-0 Namibia
