Algerians Celebrate Morocco AFCON Exit To Bafana Bafana

Algerian fans were seen celebrating on the streets as Morocco crashed out of the Africa Cup of Nations after falling to South Africa. 

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What's the story?

There's clearly no love lost between north African giants Morocco and Algeria as the latter's football fans were seen celebrating the Atlas Lions' exit from AFCON.

Although Algeria spectacularly crashed out in the group stages, seeing Morocco also exiting at an early stage of the tournament gave Algerian fans plenty reasons to celebrate.

Read: Where Do Bafana's Goal Celebrations Against Morocco Come From?

Let's take a closer look...

Algerians Celebrate Morocco's downfall

Bafana Bafana outlasted Africa's number one-ranked team Morocco in a 2-0 victory at the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16. 

It seems like South African football fans weren't the only ones in a jubilant mood last night, as footage of Algeria fans taking to the streets to celebrate Morocco's loss has been doing the rounds online.

Despite the Algeria national team crashing out in the group stages for the second AFCON in succession, their fans still had energy to cheer on Bafana against the Atlas Lions.

Take a look:

Read: 'Get Teboho Mokoena To Europe ASAP!' 

Algeria Vs Morocco: A Long Lasting Rivalry 

Algeria's relationship with Morocco has been icy for several years now, with Algeria's government ignoring Morocco's heroic exploits at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

As per Reuters, TV channels in Algeria even censoring some of the Morocco's victories. Algeria's government broke off diplomatic ties with Morocco in 2021 after years of worsening relations, as they two countries mainly differ over the dispute territory of Western Sahara. 

Morocco see the region as its own and Algeria backs an armed independence movement, Polisario in the Western Sahara. 

Last year, Morocco condemned Mandla Mandela's speech at the opening of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship in Algeria, where the grandson of Nelson Mandela called for Western Sahara to be liberated.

In 2022, adidas reportedly had to acknowledged that the design for its pre-match and wider collection for Algeria's national team was inspired by Morocco's zellige mosaic pattern, after a dispute with the Moroccan government that had accused adidas of cultural appropriation.

Morocco's Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication demanded that adidas pull the new collection off the market, alleging that the design on the jerseys of the rival North African team depicts a traditional mosaic of colored tiles, known in Morocco as Zellige.

The Desert Warriors still wore the adidas design before and during this year's AFCON:

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