Meanwhile, Senegal's Sadio Mane scored but then went off with a head injury as it beat nine-man Cape Verde Islands 2-0 in the tournament’s other last-16 round at the Kouekong Stadium in Bafoussam on Tuesday.

Fullback Hakimi’s precise strike completed the turn-around at the Ahmadou Ahidjou Stadium after Youssef en-Nesyri had equalized on the stroke of halftime.

Malawi went ahead early after a world class goal from Frank Mhango, who hit a speculative left-footed effort from some 40 meters out and watched in delight as the swerving ball caught out Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and crashed into the top of the net.

After a tournament littered with upsets, Malawi threatened to cause another as Mhango produced an astonishing effort in the seventh minute.

He then had another chance from a quick counter attack in the 23rd minute to double the lead as the lowly ranked Malawi, participating in only its third Cup of Nations finals and getting past the first round for the first time, looked to shake up its heavily fancied opponents.

However, it quickly retreated after that and lived a charmed life, as it defended tenaciously, with goalkeeper Charles Thom producing several unorthodox saves to keep his side’s lead intact.

Yet he let a header from En-Nesyri slip through his hands for Morocco’s equalizer two minutes into first-half stoppage time and there was little he could do about the rocket-like free kick from Hakimi.

In between there were several close shaves as Sofiane Boufal missed an easy chance and substitute Ryan Mmaee struck wide from close range.

Morocco, which won its only Cup of Nations in 1976, has had a horror run at the tournament since it reached the 2004 final and lost to host Tunisia. In six tournaments since it has only reached the quarterfinals once.

Morocco will meet either Ivory Coast or Egypt in its quarterfinals in Yaoundé.

Egypt and the Ivory Coast met in their last-16 clash in Douala on Wednesday.

 

Heads clash

Mane fired home from a set-piece after 62 minutes but had been hurt earlier in a nasty clash of heads with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who was sent off for the incident.

Liverpool forward Mane then left the field shortly afterward complaining of a headache and could be a doubt for the quarterfinal in Limbe on Sunday.

Substitute Bamba Dieng scored the second goal deep in stoppage time against a gallant Cape Verde side, which also had Patrick Andrade sent off after 20 minutes.

"It was a difficult game because Cape Verde was very organized," said Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly. "It was even more difficult after the first red card as they really ran around a bit but we can be happy we did the job."

Senegal's next opponent is either Mali or Equatorial Guinea, which played on Wednesday.

Mane had struck the woodwork in the opening minutes but it proved a false dawn as Senegal labored through the first half, as it had done in the group phase where it finished top of the standings despite scoring once.

But its task was made easier when Andrade was dismissed for a studs-up challenge on Pape Gueye that continued a spate of similar punishments for dangerous tackles in the tournament.

That left Cape Verde down to 10 men for the final 70 minutes but it was reduced to nine when Vozinha was sent off.

He came out to challenge for a long ball against Mane with the two clashing heads. Vozinha was badly concussed and stumbled around the field for several minutes before being persuaded to go off by his teammates.