Evidence Makgopa pulled one back for South Africa late as he turned in a cross at the near post, but Cameroon held on.
They will now face tournament hosts Morocco in the quarter-finals on Friday.
And what about Tuesday?
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The round of 16 is wrapped up on Tuesday with two more matches:
Algeria vs DR Congo, 4pm GMT, 11am ET
Ivory Coast vs Burkina Faso, 7pm GMT, 2pm ET
Again, both matches will be live on The Athletic. See you then.
Who is playing tomorrow?
First up, Mohamed Salah's Egypt play Benin at 4pm GMT, 11am ET.
That's followed by Nigeria vs Mozambique at 7pm GMT, 2pm ET.
Catch both matches, live on The Athletic.
Next up for Cameroon
That would be a quarter-final tie against hosts Morocco at 7pm GMT, 2pm ET on Friday, January 9.
The first quarter-final, Mali vs Senegal, will kick off three hours earlier the same day.
Kofane coming good on the AFCON stage
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It’s two goals in two games for Christian Kofane, who didn’t play in Cameroon’s opening 1-0 win over Gabon at this AFCON and played 73 minutes of their second Group F game against champions Ivory Coast.
In short, the 19-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker is ticking along very nicely — and it feels like there is still much more to come from one of this tournament’s brightest stars.
Let's hear from Lyle Foster
A disappointing result for South Africa, who started the match well but failed to take their early chances. Here’s how striker Lyle Foster reflected on the match while speaking to SABC Sport:
💬 “Chances converted, maybe we were just a bit unlucky. We did really well. Maybe that played a part as well in the game. The way the game went after that was obviously not the best.
“We just need to focus now, learn and regroup and when we get together again we need to go over things. We started the game well and tactically the way they played, we matched it and surprised them a bit.
“We were in the game the whole time and all around we probably were the better team. They scored the goal out of nothing and then (again) after half time.
“There were a few chances where we will look back and think we could have and should have. It’s not the result we wanted, everybody is disappointed.”
A special shout-out to Baleba and Mbeumo today.
Baleba's touch of class a real highlight from the match
Please, please, please rewatch that no-look pass from Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba during that round of 16 match.
That was incredible.
Carlos Baleba a standout today
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The Cameroon squad were slapping Carlos Baleba's head as he received his player of the match trophy.
Full-time stats zone
A round of 16 tie that never really felt under anyone’s control until the final whistle blew. It was a lot of fun and by default, the winners will likely be toughened to go further than simply the quarter-finals.
Here is how the full-time numbers shook down …
FT: South Africa 1-2 Cameroon
Possession %: 66 — 34
Shots: 18 — 10
On target: 4 — 4
Expected Goals (xG): 1.95 — 1.56
Big chances: 4 — 3
Blocked shots: 6 — 2
Touches in opposition box: 29 — 16
Duels won: 46 — 41
Dispossessed: 2 — 12
All of this will make South Africa dream of what might have been.
That second goal just two minutes into the second half from Christian Kofane was a brilliant header — and a deserving match winner on a night where Bafana Bafana will deal they deserved much more.
Not that you always get what you deserve in football.
The knockout picture at AFCON 2025
As Nnamdi mentioned, here is where we’re at with this Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco following today’s two round of 16 ties …
Quarter-finals:
Senegal vs Mali
Morocco vs Cameroon
Round of 16 — Monday:
Egypt vs Benin (A)
Nigeria vs Mozambique (B)
Round of 16 — Tuesday:
Algeria vs DR Congo (B)
Ivory Coast vs Burkina Faso (A)
Hopefully it makes sense above but in effect, the two winners from the A games will play each other in the quarter-finals. Likewise the two B winners.
All of those games will be covered live right here on The Athletic, of course.
Cameroon scrape through despite off-field dysfunction
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As dysfunctional as Samuel Eto'o's Cameroon have been at times, they have made the AFCON quarter-finals after a huge win against South Africa!
They face hosts and favourites Morocco on Friday.
‘Make sure not to miss your plane!’
There are Moroccan fans over my shoulder shouting at the South African journalists, I think, and telling them to go home!
A disappointing end for South Africa
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After a shaky start, Cameroon improved and took their chances.
South Africa crash out after a disappointing tournament on and off the field.
Samuel Eto'o punches the air
The president of the country's football association, Fecafoot, raises his arm in celebration and takes a hug before pumping his fist.
They are through.
FULL TIME: South Africa 1-2 Cameroon
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That's it!
Cameroon hang on despite the late pressure and they are into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final!
Nearly there...
90+5' South Africa 1-2 Cameroon
30 seconds left of the five minutes added on at the end of the match.
This last period has been liquid AFCON.
South Africa free kick. Last chance? No. They have a corner...
Bizarre scenes as South Africa's defender Ngezana goes down with cramp and their goalkeeper Ronwen Williams runs over and lifts him up.
Ngezana tries to limp off the pitch and falls down again.
Now he is back on the pitch and acting as a striker!
Could there be a nerve-jangling finish on the cards?
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Just before South Africa scored, our good friend and former Cameroon international Sebastien Bassong laughed off suggestions they would come back and said the only place they are going “is back to Johannesburg.”
