Senegal beat Morocco and won the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (1-0), but the final was marked by disorder.
Senegal
1 : 0
Morocco
The summary
Senegal wins a crazy final. You don’t have to wait long before attending the first opportunity. Pape Gueye receives a corner at the far post but comes up against a decisive Bounou (6′). Morocco then establishes a lot of pressure and a lot of intensity in the duels. And if the Atlas Lions win more duels, the clear chances are Senegalese like on this cross shot from Ndiaye kicked out by Bounou heroically (37′).
Returning from the locker room, the situation is the same except that it is the Moroccans who have the first big opportunity of the second half. El Kaabi opens his foot too much on a magnificent serve from El Khannouss (58′). The Senegal coach then made changes while Morocco showed itself to be more and more dangerous. And he is an entrant who almost becomes the Senegalese hero. Mbaye takes his chance off balance and forces Bounou into a superb save (90′). A few minutes later, another entrant made a name for himself. Sarr thinks he scores the winning goal but his goal is refused for a previous foul on an action that will be controversial (90+3′). The controversy will not stop there since just before the end of the second half, Diaz requests a penalty and will be successful after the intervention of the VAR (90+10′). It is at this moment that a rare decision occurs. Under the leadership of their coach, the Senegalese returned to the locker room with the exception of Mané who did not support this sign of protest. After a long interruption and the return of the Teranga Lions to the field, Diaz is about to take this penalty but completely misses his panenka in front of Mendy, sending the two teams into overtime in total disorder.
And it’s going very strong. Pape Gueye capsizes the Lions of Teranga with a powerful strike from the edge of the area (94′). Shortly after, Morocco found itself down to ten after Igamane’s injury. We then say that the Atlas Lions will no longer have the strength to worry Mendy but they will miss the equalizing ball after hitting the bar on a corner (108′). After this big thrill, the Senegalese will manage to settle in the opposing camp, preventing any opportunity for the Moroccans who will have difficulty recovering from this completely crazy scenario.
10:50 – Idrissa Gueye believed in the failure of the penalty until the end
Former PSG player Idrissa Gueye stayed on the pitch and pushed for the final not to end in chaos. “Everyone saw what happened. Players wanted to stop, the Senegalese captain told beIN Sports. We didn’t really know. We were confused. At one point, I went to see the coach and I said to him: “But imagine he misses the penalty.” We laughed a little. Sadio said: “We continue to play, we take what Allah gives us. We’ll see what happens.” Then Edouard stops the penalty and behind them they take a blow to the head.”
10:22 – Regragui defended Diaz after the match
After missing his panenka, Brahim Diaz received a ton of criticism from supporters and observers, but had the support of his coach after the match. “He was disturbed,” said the Moroccan coach about his player. “If we want to come back today also in relation to the match, the image we gave of Africa today is a bit shameful. When a coach asks his players to leave the field… He had already started at the press conference, so much the better for him. As I say at the end, you must always remain classy in defeat as in victory,” he added. “What Pape did tonight, it doesn’t honor Africa. It’s not classy but it doesn’t matter, he is African champion so he has the right to say what he wants. We stopped the match in front of the world for at least ten minutes. That didn’t help Brahim, it’s not an excuse for the way he pulled it but there you go, we’re not going to go back, he pulled it that way. We I’m going to take it on, especially me as a coach, we’re looking forward.”
09:55 – Infantino’s review
“We strongly condemn the behavior of some Senegalese players and members of the technical staff. It is unacceptable to leave the field in this manner,” Infantino said in a statement sent to AFP. “It is unacceptable to leave the field in this manner, and violence cannot be tolerated in our sport; it is simply unacceptable. We must always respect the decisions taken by the referees, on and off the field. behavior endangers the very essence of football, continued the president of the International Football Federation. The deplorable scenes we witnessed today must be condemned and never repeated. Remember that the boss of Fifa warmly congratulated the players on the pitch.
09:40 – What Claude Le Roy said to Sadio Mané
“Sadio came to ask me what I would do in his place,” Le Roy explains to AFP. I told him, “I’ll ask your teammates to come back.” Quite simply. And the rest is now history with the comeback of the Senegalese players.
09:19 – Words from Pape Thiaw
Pape Thiaw, Senegal coach, was forced to cancel his press conference after journalists urged him to “get out”. But he had spoken a few moments earlier on the microphone of beIN Sports, broadcaster of the meeting. “We didn’t agree,” he explained. “I don’t want to go over the facts of the match. On reflection, I didn’t appreciate at all having told my players to go out. I apologize for football. On reflection, I made them come back. We know what’s going on behind the scenes.”
09:09 – Senegal could have lost by forfeit
According to the disciplinary regulations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), “voluntary abandonment of the field or refusal to resume play constitutes a major offense. Leaving the field during a final, even to protest against an arbitration decision deemed unfair, is considered a forfeit.”
01/18/26 – 11:20 p.m. – Strong words from the Morocco coach
“It’s disappointing the image we showed of African football with everything that happened. Since the start of the competition it was unhealthy but hey, congratulations to Senegal”, declared Walid Regragui after this Senegal – Morocco.
01/18/26 – 11:10 p.m. – Words from the man of the match
Pape Gueye was elected man of the match for this Senegal – Morocco and celebrated in all humility: “We were keen to win here. It’s a beautiful country with incredible supporters. We gave everything, we didn’t cheat and today Senegal are African champions and we are very happy.”
01/18/26 – 11:00 p.m. – One of the images from the CAN 2025 final
This CAN 2025 final will forever be engraved in the history of football after a completely chaotic end to the match. After a penalty whistled for Morocco, the Teranga Lions decided to go on strike for a little over five minutes before Sadio Mané encouraged his teammates to return.
01/18/26 – 10:55 p.m. – SENEGAL WINS CAN 2025!
IT’S FINISHED! At the end of a completely crazy final, Senegal beat Morocco and won the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
18/01/26 – 22:54 – Senegal settles in (120+2′)
The Lions of Teranga gain precious seconds in the opposing camp. Morocco cannot breathe and go on the counterattack.
01/18/26 – 10:53 p.m. – Three more minutes! (120′)
There are still three minutes to play in this CAN 2025 final. Senegal is getting closer to a coronation that will forever be engraved in history.
01/18/26 – 10:50 p.m. – What a defense (119′)
The Lions of Teranga are fighting like hell to hold on to this coronation. The Moroccans are at the end of their strength and out of ideas.
18/01/26 – 22:48 – Gueye’s recovery (117′)
This time, it’s Idrissa Gana Gueye who makes lightning speak with a volley that escapes the target.
01/18/26 – 10:48 p.m. – Gueye again (116′)
Pape Gueye unleashes another shot from outside the area. Bounou takes no risks and deflects for a corner.
01/18/26 – 10:47 p.m. – Five minutes left (115′)
The Senegalese still hold this short advantage which would allow them to be crowned African champions. Morocco gives everything but it’s hard when numerically inferior.
01/18/26 – 10:45 p.m. – Yellow card for Sarr (113′)
The Senegal defender illegally interrupts a counterattack and receives a deserved yellow card. He doesn’t dispute it.
01/18/26 – 10:43 p.m. – THE UNMISSABLE!! (112′)
Ndiaye presents himself against Bounou. The Moroccan goalkeeper made a superb save before the Senegalese striker missed the target when the goal was empty. What if this was the turning point of this extension.
18/01/26 – 22:42 – In Mendy’s gloves (111′)
Akhomach takes care of the off-center free kick for Morocco but it goes straight into Mendy’s gloves.
18/01/26 – 22:42 – Senegal suffers (110′)
While Igamane cannot continue due to injury, Morocco finds itself down to ten but dominates, despite everything, this end of extra time.
01/18/26 – 10:40 p.m. – WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY! (108′)
THE BAR SAVES SENEGAL ON THIS CORNER. El Aynaoui then made two recoveries which were countered by the heroic defense of Senegal.
18/01/26 – 22:38 – A change for Senegal (106′)
Pape Thiaw brought in a fresh player for the last 15 minutes of this Senegal – Morocco. Jakobs replaces Diouf.
01/18/26 – 10:37 p.m. – Here we go for the last 15 minutes of madness!
The referee kicks off the second period of this extension in this Senegal – Morocco. The Atlas Lions will try everything to snatch an equalizer in this CAN 2025 final.
18/01/26 – 22:34 – Half-time in Rabat
There are still 15 minutes of play left in this Senegal – Morocco. The half-time extension is whistled and the Lions of Teranga are getting closer to the coronation.
01/18/26 – 10:33 p.m. – One more minute (105′)
The additional time of this first extension period begins in this Senegal – Morocco.
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