North African giants Morocco negotiated a bit of a scare against Malawi, coming from behind to win 2-1 and book their place in the quarterfinals of AFCON 2021.
PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi sparkled for the Moroccans with a free-kick goal that proved decisive. Here are the best facts & figures emerging from the tournament last night via OPTA, including the best stats from Senegal vs Cape Verde.
📊 AFCON 2021 round of 16 OPTA stats
- Achraf Hakimi has become the first player to score two direct free-kick goals at the same Africa Cup of Nations tournament since Geremi with Cameroon in 2008.
- At 24 years of age, Youssef En-Nesyri is the first and only Moroccan to score in three separate African Cup of Nations, namely 2017, 2019 and 2021.
- Gabadinho Mhango scored all three of Malawi’s goals at AFCON 2021 (2 v Zimbabwe in the group stage, 1 vs Morocco), becoming the highest goal scorer for his country at the AFCON (3 participations).
- Senegal has reached the quarterfinals at the Africa Cup of Nations in each of the last three editions (2017, 2019 and this year), only Tunisia is on a better current run in the competition (4).
- There have been 13 red cards shown at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as many as in the previous four editions of the tournament combined.
We’ll be back with more of the best OPTA stats tomorrow. Until then:
👉 Follow Ivory Coast vs Egypt tonight as they battle for a place in the quarterfinals.