Defending Champions Ivory Coast Crash Out After Morocco Defeat

Rachid Alioui scored a beautiful goal to send Ivory Coast out of the 2017 AFCON tournament. In a game where Ivory Coast required a win to progress, it was Morocco who went close to scoring first when Fajr hit the crossbar.

Wilfried Zaha and Solomon Kalou wasted good chances that would have probably seen the defending champions survive and progress into the quarter-finals.

After Alioui’s sole moment of brilliance in the second half, Ivory Coast failed to get themselves back in the game and the Moroccans happily held onto their lead.

This is the first time in eight that Ivory Coast has failed to qualify for the knockout stages in AFCON

Featured photo: Rachid Alioui (No23) celebrates his classic goal that eliminated Ivory Coast. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES)