Morocco reached the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations with a 1-0 victory over Ivory Coast in Group D.
Youssef En-Nesyri scored the game’s only goal in the first half after a clever pass from Nordin Amrabat.
Ivory Coast had gone close with just 38 seconds gone when Wolves’ Romain Saiss cleared a header from Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia off the line.
Morocco end their group campaign against South Africa on Monday (17:00 BST), while Ivory Coast play Namibia.
Morocco could still be caught by both Ivory Coast and South Africa, but they are already assured of at least being one of the four best third-placed teams.
As well as scoring, En-Nesyri swept a shot into the side-netting and forced Sylvain Gbohouo into a terrific save down to his left after Amrabat dummied Hakim Ziyech’s low cross.
Ivory Coast, who left Crystal Palace talisman Wilfried Zaha on the bench, could have pulled level when Max Gradel was played through on goal, but Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was quickly off his line to smother the danger, before Pepe fired the loose ball into the side-netting.
Analysis
From BBC Arabic’s Riham Eldeeb:
The points are all that matter and Morocco go into the final group game without any pressure now they have qualified for the knockout stages, but we still haven’t seen the perfect performance from them.
Ivory Coast offered nothing and the questions for them are around the player who didn’t take to the pitch. Why aren’t we seeing Zaha? Two attacking players were brought on before him and an injury meant he couldn’t come on. It was a big surprise not to see the Crystal Palace forward.
It’s a big win for Morocco manager Herve Renard against his former team – he certainly won the tactical battle here.
Live Text
Match ends, Morocco 1, Côte d’Ivoire 0.
Second Half ends, Morocco 1, Côte d’Ivoire 0.
Offside, Morocco. Romain Saïss tries a through ball, but Youssef En-Nesyri is caught offside.
Substitution, Morocco. Manuel da Costa replaces Moubarak Boussoufa.
Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco) hits the bar with a right footed shot from the centre of the box. Assisted by Moubarak Boussoufa following a fast break.
Foul by Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco).
Wilfried Kanon (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco).
Foul by Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco).
Wonlo Coulibaly (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt saved. Ismael Traoré (Côte d’Ivoire) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Nicolas Pepe.
Foul by Younès Belhanda (Morocco).
Wilfried Bony (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Achraf Hakimi (Morocco).
Maxwel Cornet (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Offside, Morocco. Youssef En-Nesyri tries a through ball, but Sofiane Boufal is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Wilfried Bony (Côte d’Ivoire) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Maxwel Cornet with a cross.
Corner, Morocco. Conceded by Sylvain Gbohouo.
Attempt saved. Younès Belhanda (Morocco) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top centre of the goal. Assisted by Achraf Hakimi.
Substitution, Morocco. Noussair Mazraoui replaces Nordin Amrabat because of an injury.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Delay in match because of an injury Nordin Amrabat (Morocco).
Attempt missed. Nicolas Pepe (Côte d’Ivoire) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Wilfried Bony with a headed pass.
Attempt missed. Maxwel Cornet (Côte d’Ivoire) header from the centre of the box misses to the left following a set piece situation.
Franck Kessié (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Nordin Amrabat (Morocco).
Wonlo Coulibaly (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Nordin Amrabat (Morocco).
Foul by Jonathan Kodjia (Côte d’Ivoire).
Medhi Benatia (Morocco) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Maxwel Cornet (Côte d’Ivoire) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Nordin Amrabat (Morocco).
Hand ball by Wilfried Bony (Côte d’Ivoire).
Substitution, Morocco. Sofiane Boufal replaces Hakim Ziyech.
Foul by Nicolas Pepe (Côte d’Ivoire).
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Nordin Amrabat with a cross.
Foul by Serey Dié (Côte d’Ivoire).
Younès Belhanda (Morocco) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Africa Cup of Nations: Morocco beat Ivory Coast to reach knockout stage