Tunisia are out of the ongoing delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament in Cote d'Ivoire after they were held to a goalless draw by South Africa in their last Group E match at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium on Wednesday.
The result saw South Africa finish second on the log behind group E leaders Mali, with Namibia in third and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia fourth. All but the North Africans are through to the Round of 16, which will get underway this coming weekend.
The onus was on Tunisia to make the play as they needed a win to move off the bottom of Group E, but they created very little in the contest and failed to break down a resolute South Africa.
Mali top the pool with five points from their three games following a goalless draw with Namibia, with South Africa in second place on four points. Namibia also qualified with four points for the first time as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Tunisia are the third-ranked African side at the tournament in the Cote d'Ivoire behind Morocco and Senegal, but following a shock loss to Namibia in their opening game, they could only manage draws with Mali and South Africa and joined Algeria and Ghana as surprise casualties in the group stage of the AFCON 2023.
It was a scene of jubilation at Stade de San Pedro as Namibia progressed to the Round of 16 for the first time in their history, following their barren draw with Mali on Wednesday night.
Mali got the game off to a positive start with Yves Bissouma producing the first attempt at goal as early as the first minutes. Not holding back, the likes of Peter Shalulile and Deon Hotto progressed the ball up field on numerous occasions.
The Brave Warriors continued to press on, with Prins Tjiueza coming close to opening the scoring in the 16th minute with a shot inside the Mali's 18-yard-area. Mali won a couple of free-kicks in the offensive half as the half-hour mark approached but were unable to make the most of their opportunities.
Kennedy Amutenya was presented with one of the chances of the half in the 37th minute. With Hotto playing the ball across the area, Amutenya's attempt on the side of the six-yard box went agonisingly wide.
