And in the end, it is Sadio Mané’s Senegal who wins. As in the final of the CAN 2022 and in the play-offs of the 2022 World Cup, the star of the Teranga Lions led his team to victory in his remote duel with Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, his former partner at Liverpool.
If, in 2022, the double African Golden Ball had offered his country the first African Cup in its history by scoring the decisive shot on goal at the end of an already closed match (0-0, 4-2 tab), the native of Bambali did even better this Wednesday in Tangier by finding the net in the game.
At the height of the Senegalese pressure, Mané put on the cape of the savior, that of a legend of African football, by taking his chance at the entrance to the opposing area after a blocked shot from Lamine Camara (1-0, 78th). A flash of lightning in a Tangier night that had until then been very dull, as the bloc of Pharaohs had long seemed unshakeable. This was without counting on the Senegalese flagship’s eleventh goal in the CAN finals, the second in 2025.
A totally locked meeting
Before this emotional epilogue, the debates were locked for a long time. As every follower of African football could expect, the meeting was initially closed. Very closed even. Following on from their last four confrontations, all ending with a score of 1-0 or 0-0 in regulation time, the two teams neutralized each other.
On one side, the Lions of Teranga in control but paralyzed by the fear of offering dangerous counter-attacks to their opponent. On the other, the Pharaohs curled up on their goal, in their purest characteristic style (31% possession, 1 shot, 0 on target, 0.00 Expected Goals at half-time).
Completely locked down, the first act was only marked by the distance fight engaged by the two teams to avoid yellow cards. And for good reason: with 13 players under threat of suspension for the final, the fear of making a mistake added to the pressure of the stakes to end up petrifying the players.
Koulibaly suspended for the final
Among them, Senegalese captain Kalidou Koulibaly saw the ax fall in the 17th minute by preventing Omar Marmoush from going deep. The executive of Pape Thiaw’s defense took a second blow to the head six minutes later, when he lay down on the field, visibly injured in the left adductor before giving way to Strasbourg’s Mamadou Sarr (23rd).
Without the slightest opportunity to get their teeth into during the first period, the spectators at the Ibn-Batouta Stadium in Tangier did not have the opportunity to get excited after returning from the locker room. If Senegal maintained the pressure in the opposing camp, its offensive players struggled to break the Egyptian barrier, despite the efforts of a very active Sadio Mané on the left of the attack and finally rewarded for his undermining work.
Despite a final burst of pressure, symbolized by Marmoush’s shot directly captured by Édouard Mendy in the heart of added time (90th + 5), nothing could prevent the Lions from qualifying for the fourth final in their CAN history. In the sights: a second continental coronation, against Nigeria or Morocco.
