Senegal Vs Morocco – The most controversial final of all Time.
Senegal won the controversial game via a splendid rocket shot by Pape Gueye in the AET. The scoreline suggested a simple 1-0 win, but there were many layers to the match. The most notable one was from Brahim Diaz, as he missed the 90+8th-minute penalty. The penalty was awarded after a controversial decision by VAR, which led to Senegal players walking off the pitch. After some time, amidst all the controversy, the penalty was taken but missed poorly by Diaz. His penalty was so bad that people afterwards discussed whether he intentionally missed it.
Despite Morocco’s sensational efforts, Senegal prevailed as the winner & lifted their second AFCON, making them the best team in Africa before heading to the WC 2026.
Introduction
Senegal met Morocco in the final of the AFCON. The Senegalese side has won the tournament only once before today, but they were in hot form as this is their golden generation of football. Led by Sadio Mane, who was a crucial figure in their 2021 AFCON win, was determined to win another for their nation. During the press conference, Mane claimed that this would be his last AFCON & he is hungrier thanever.
Morocco, on the other hand were the host nation as they were under immense pressure to deliver success. The highest ranked Africisn side was in fine form & was expecting to win the tournament as hosts, which is quite a rare thing in AFCON.
Morocco had one of the best defences in Africa, led by Hakimi, who was instrumental in their World Cup 2022 run. Morocco only conceded 1 goal in the whole tournament. This shows the strong defensive structure of Walid Regragui (Moroccan head coach).
Senegal, on the other heand led by Pape THiaw were quite good in attack, scoring goals for fun, as their strikers Mane, Ndiaye & Jackson were combing were beautifully in the final 3rd.
Both of them were undoubtedly the two best teams in Africa & were in for a treat of a football match.
Match Summary
Both teams were quite balanced in terms of attack & defence. Senegal shared their moments of attacking as well, and Morocco also created some good chances. Although Senegal had a better venom in their attack.
The midfield show was run by L.Camara & he was Senegal’s focal point in linking attack & defence. The Monaco man did his job with great responsibility and totally outplayed the Moroccan midfield at times.
Also, credit to Idriss Gana-Gueye & Pape Gueye, they also understood their role perfectly. The former shielding the defence while the latter circulating the ball & stringing passes via midfield & attack.
Almost before the Ht mark, Ndiaye had a great opportunity as Moroccan defence for the first time was split open, but Ndiaye couldn’t convert it as Bonou made a fantastic save to deny him. Both Camara & Saibiri saw their shots blocked from promising angles & that concluded the 1st half of exciting footballing action.
2nd Half
Both teams had their fair share of fouls & referee showed at times quite leniency towards Moroccan players, which boiled the blood of Senegalese fans. A physical game was expected as it was an AFCON final, and both teams kept everything on the line. Around the hour mark, Pape Gueye saw his shot saved acrobatically by Bonou as the former Sevilla man looked sharper than ever today. Just a minute later, Bilal El-Khannous delivered a beautiful low cross which El Kabbi couldn’t convert despite getting ahead of his man. Mendy was stationed to make such a defence-splitting pass, which exposed the Senegal backline.
The match began to open up, with Ezzazouli narrowly missing a chance. Later, Morocco earned a corner that resulted in a dangerous clash of heads between Diouf and El Aynaoui. Play was halted as El Aynaoui suffered a significant injury, visibly bleeding from his head.
The game slowed down as both teams knew it would be dangerous to commit in the last ten minutes ofthe game. Although Senegal still saw some half-chances, none of them were much threatening.
8 minutes were allotted as Senegal was awarded a corner around the 4th minute of added time. Senegal thought they scored the goal, but the referee chalked it off, deeming the foul in the build-up to the goal. And just a minute later, Brahim Diaz got a penalty for a very soft touch by Malick Diouf & it was at this moment the temperature boiled off, the whole Senegal bench approached the VAR box & started circling the referee, and multiple yellow cards were shown as the referee pointed towards the spot.
The Senegal coach could’nt believe the decision & asked his players to walk off & all the players walked off during the game!!! The Moroccan player stood there waiting for confirmation, but the GK, along with the rest of the players, walked with the coach.
Then Sadio Mane showed the true spirit of the game and asked his teammates to come back, when they came back after the longest halt between a penalty awarded and a penalty taken. Also, there were a lot of cards shown towards both camps.
Brahim Diaz stepped up & tried the silliest thing in world football…… he tried to Paneka Mendy but Mendy, being an elite keeper, stayed alert &saved his penalty, causing utter silence in the stadium. He started crying after realising his mistake & the whole team was quite supportive of him as the FT whistle blew at Abdellah Stadium.
As soon as the game resumed in AET, Senegal scored a peach of a goal via Pape Guèye. He struck a thunderous shot which rifled the net & gave Senegal their much-desired goal. Diaz was taken off as he couldn’t concentrate properly & was seen quite shaken from that penalty incident.
Morocco tried everything, El-Neyserri came close as well as Aguerd, but the football gods already decided their winner & gave Senegal the win they dreamt of.
Standout Performers
Senegal-
L. Camara– The Monaco man ran the show for Senegal, connecting the ball from midfield to attack. He was also responsible for all those dangerous corner deliveries.
Pape Gueye– He was a constant threat throughout the game & his goal is one to remember for ages.
S. Mane– Mane completed the most dribbles in the game & also won the most duels in the game, but the standout moment was when he called his teammates back on the pitch.
Morocco-
Hakimi– The PSG star RB gave it all, he created the most chances, handled Mane quite well, but couldn’t power his team to a win.
Bono– If not for him, the game would have been over a long time ago; he kept Morocco in the game for quite some time.
What It Means
This Senegal victory would be written in the history books as not the greatest AFCON wins, but also the day when football actually won. Morocco, being the host nation, used all sorts of legal as well as illegal advantages over their opponents. Even in the SF against Nigeria, they decided to trouble the Nigerian GK & many of the 50/50 fouls were inclined towards them. This was the same issue with Senegal in the final, but their reserve GK helped E. Mendy like a guardian protecting him from the rude & troublesome behaviour of the Moroccan ball boys.
Senegal let their emotions get the better of them as Pape Thiaw(Senegal head coach) called the team off during the game as he felt the VAR adjudged a wrong decision & was favouring Morocco, I personally bielved it was the right call bt Thiaw as sometimes you need strict action against higher authority, the consequences could hsve been worse but THiaw’s call showed the fearless nature of the Senegalese NT.
The game could have ended in chaos: Senegal walking off, Morocco handed the trophy by default, and AFCON drowned in controversy. Instead, one man salvaged the night, the tournament, and African football—Sadio Mané. He reunited his team & he refused to walk off, making players come on the pitch & complete the game, which eventually led to Senegal’s win. In this moment, Sadio Mane crowned himself as the future goat of African football & would be considered alongside DROgba & Samuel Eto’o.
Conclusion
Senegalese NT has been criticised badly, especially by the Moroccan fans & their head coach Walid Regragui, labelling them shameful. But the decision to walk off was not a symbol of weakness; rather, it showed that the Senegal NT had the guts to challenge the wrong behaviour of CAF that has not only happened this year but has happened over the past few tournaments. Any lingering trust in the referees vanished during the tournament. They made consistently poor decisions that favoured the hosts, with unclear VAR usage fueling wild conspiracy theories—like Morocco bribing CAF to win. All of Morocco’s opponents complained about the partiality; even Eto’o was fined for his words during the Morocco vs Cameroon QF. Mali also said that they were given poor hotels & staff were rude towards them before the game.
When Pape Thiaw led his players off the pitch after Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo(on-field referee) reversed a last-minute penalty for Morocco, it wasn’t petty coaching to hide failure. It championed millions of frustrated Senegalese and African fans, who saw CAF’s refereeing as gift-wrapping the AFCON trophy for the desperate hosts. This is why the Senegal ultras left their stands & started fighting the Moroccan staff & authority as they saw the mistreatment towards their team.
Senegal will no doubt face repercussions. Even in the unlikely event that they escape sanctions for the team’s initial decision, they will face the consequences of their fans violently invading the pitch.
In Senegal, those fans won’t be hooligans but warriors who fought for their country. The team will live on as part of Senegal’s emerging dynasty in African football.
Morocco, having poured billions into its football project, will remember this tournament as a failure – despite losing by the narrowest margin.
For the neutrals like us, this was probably the greatest night in AFCON history.
