Hosts Egypt suffered a shocking elimination from the African Cup of Nations round of 16 after conceding a late goal against South Africa on Saturday, with another lethargic display costing them dear this time around.

Thembinkosi Lorch netted the decisive goal five minutes from time after finishing off a neatly-worked breakaway, with Egypt paying the price of their defensive frailties as they needlessly poured forward en masse to settle the tie before extra time.

A sell-out crowd at the 75,000-seat Cairo Stadium were duly silenced, with the shell-shocked Egypt players looking in disbelief and tears coming into the eyes of star forward Mohamed Salah who two years ago led the team to the Nations Cup final in Gabon, where they lost to Cameroon.

The stunning elimination marked Egypt’s worst-ever performance as hosts. They twice won the tournament as hosts in 1986 and 2006, losing in the final in 1959 and the semi-finals in 1974.

It’s also the second major surprise of this edition after Morocco lost to Benin on penalties on Friday. South Africa will now meet Nigeria in the quarter-finals after the Super Eagles claiming a thrilling 3-2 win over Cameroon earlier on Saturday.

With five minutes remaining, having bossed Egypt in the first half, and frustrated them in the second, Thembinkosi Lorch got through alone on a breakaway and slotted an 85th-minute winner – and Bafana Bafana had shocked the hosts and blown the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations wide open.

Egypt were one of the tournament favourites. Bafana had a foot on the plane home before scraping into the last-16 as the fourth-best third-placed finishers.