South Africa 1-2 Cameroon: Five-time winners hold on to seal quarter-final spot

Cameroon set up a mouth-watering Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final showdown with Morocco, after holding on for a narrow 2-1 victory over South Africa.

Goals from Junior Tchamadeu and Christian Kofane settled the last-16 showdown in Rabat, where Evidence Makgopa’s late consolation proved academic for Bafana Bafana.

South Africa made the brighter start to the tie. Relebohile Mofokeng fired a decent opportunity over when one-on-one with Devis Epassy after just seven minutes, while Lyle Foster was denied by the offside flag.

However, it was Cameroon who broke the deadlock on 34 minutes. Carlos Baleba’s shot ricocheted off Samuel Kotto for Tchamadeu to slot home, with the goal awarded following a VAR review.

The Indomitable Lions doubled the lead two minutes into the second half, as Kofane buried a header from Aboubakar Nagida’s inviting cross.

Samukelo Kabini had a shot blocked at the far post, while Teboho Mokoena saw a free-kick turned behind as South Africa sought a response.

And they did pull a goal back two minutes from time when substitute Makgopa turned in Aubrey Modiba’s delivery from close range, but Cameroon held out for victory.

FULL-TIME!

Cameroon claim a 2-1 win over South Africa in the Round of 16. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | @tecnomobile pic.twitter.com/ihveG3HAft

— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 4, 2026

Data Debrief: Indomitable Lions equal quarter-final record

Five-time Africa Cup of Nations winners Cameroon are through to the quarter-finals for a record-equalling 11th time, moving level with Nigeria and Ivory Coast.

The Indomitable Lions have also now avoided defeat in their last nine matches when scoring first at AFCON, since a 3-1 loss to Egypt in 2010.

They have now progressed from 22 of their 34 knockout games in the competition (including finals). Only Nigeria (68%) boast a higher success rate than Cameroon (65%).

As for South Africa, they lost an AFCON knockout game for only the third time in the 21st century, after two losses in the quarter-finals against Mali (2002) and Nigeria (2019).