Head coach Hugo Broos is drawing confidence from Bafana Bafana's 2-1 victory over Morocco in June last year as the two teams prepare to do battle in the last 16 of the AFCON on Tuesday night.
South Africa qualified for the knockout stages second in Group E behind Mali, setting up a tie with Group F winners Morocco.
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The last time the two teams met was at FNB Stadium in June 2023 for a dead rubber AFCON qualification clash, with both teams having already qualified.
South Africa walked away 2-1 winners on the night. Although this time around the stakes will be higher, Broos believes his side has what it takes to conjure a similar surprise over the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists.
"That we can beat them, that's the most important thing we learned," Broos told journalists on Friday, when asked on important lessons learned from their previous encounter with the Morocco.
"We didn't have that feeling in Morocco, we were dominated. We lost and we saw a big difference between South Africa and Morocco, and Morocco proved it at the World Cup. But then suddenly they came to Joburg and we played a very good game and beat them.
"Now we have a feeling it is possible (to beat them) so, we will see on Tuesday."
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Morocco entered the AFCON as the highest ranked team in Africa, ahead of second-placed Senegal. The Atlas Lions are ranked 13th globally. Meanwhile, South Africa rank 12 on the continent and 66 globally.
Bafana's match against Morocco is scheduled to kick-off at 22:00.
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