African Nations Cup

Watch the beautiful curler that knocked Cote d'Ivoire out of AFCON

Published Jan. 25, 2017 6:42 a.m. ET

Alex Dowd

Star-laden and defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Cote d'Ivoire fell out of the tournament on Tuesday, losing 1-0 against Morocco. The goal that officially sealed their fate was a thing of beauty, however.

Morocco's Rachid Alioui locked in his country's quarterfinals spot — and kept the Ivorians out — with this gem of a curling long-range strike.

https://twitter.com/beINSPORTSUSA/status/823993967767408640

The Cote d'Ivoire defense stands off of Alioui, ensuring the 24-year old forward doesn't get a run at goal. There's just one problem, though: the space gives Alioui plenty of room to shoot. And shoot, he does. It's a pearler into the far corner, and it all but dooms the defending champs.

Cote d'Ivoire shoulder a lot of the blame for flaming out of AFCON. The Ivorians are a squad full of stars, and yet they failed to register a single group-stage win. Of course, being so reliant on big names gave them precious little time to practice in earnest, but Alioui's dagger certainly didn't help their cause, either.

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