Senegal won the African Cup of Nations by beating Morocco (1-0) after extra time on Sunday January 18 in Rabat in a final that could have descended into chaos, shattering Morocco’s dream of winning « on » CAN and darkening a perfect organization until then.
While the match struggled to restart after an ocean of confusion having covered the end of regulation time, Pape Gueye catapulted a missile into the top corner of Yassine Bounou (1-0, 94th), logically offering Senegal its second African champion title after the one gleaned in 2021.
Second African nation in the FIFA rankings behind Morocco, and the most consistent team on the continent with its three African Cup finals in the last four editions, the Teranga Lions are a formidable winner.
But unfortunately this is not what we will remember from Sunday’s victory for France’s future opponent at the World Cup. Not immediately anyway.
Because CAN-2025, impeccable until then, descended into madness and immense disorder while we were playing the seventh minute of added time. On a corner, Brahim Diaz complained of being caught by Malick Diouf in the Senegalese area. Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo, the Congolese referee of the match, after calling for the video, awarded him a penalty.
Two minutes earlier, still from a corner, Ismaïla Sarr had a goal denied because of an unclear foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi (90th + 2).
Anger of the Senegalese
This succession of events angered the Senegalese players and bench, who attacked their Moroccan counterparts. The Senegalese players ended up leaving the field briefly, encouraged by their coach Pape Thiaw, before returning under the injunctions of Sadio Mané, the star of the team.
“The image we have given of Africa today is a bit shameful”commented his Moroccan counterpart Walid Regragui in a post-match press conference. “Pope (Thiaw) asks his players to leave the field, that’s it (…) What Pape did this evening does not 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. »
From the field, tensions spread to the stands where the thousand supporters of the Lions of Teranga present tried to invade the field for almost 15 minutes – even when Brahim Diaz was preparing to take his penalty – difficult to contain in a general brawl by the stewards, assisted by the police.
Also in the press gallery where bickering broke out here and there between journalists from the two nations (tensions continued after the match and the protocol ceremony, to the point that the press conference by Senegalese coach Pape Thiaw was canceled for security reasons).
After twenty minutes of confusion and electric tension, Brahim Diaz’s failed panenka, which completely missed his final, painfully calmed the spirits but completely took the Atlas Lions out of their match.
Twenty-two years after their last final, in 2004 in Tunisia, the Moroccans saw their wild hope of winning their second title at home, fifty years after that of 1976, disappear like the few chairs which sprang from the stands to crash at the edge of the field. Sadly.
Pape Gueye man of the match
Ready to implode, it is ultimately Senegal that laughs and Morocco that cries. All of Morocco. While scenes of jubilation and joy broke out in Dakar from the final whistle. The Moulay-Abdellah stadium, full to the brim and with an incandescent atmosphere until the final whistle, emptied like one man.
Everything up until then had been perfect for Morocco. Weather, stadiums, pitches: rarely has an African Cup been played in conditions so close to European standards, benchmarks in world football.
Because this CAN, the greatest commercial success in the history of African football with 55 million dollars generated, will have served as a dress rehearsal for the next big meeting for Morocco, the 2030 World Cup, which it will co-organize with Spain and Portugal.
In a statement released by the Moroccan press agency MAP, King Mohamed VI congratulated the Moroccan selection for its “distinguished course” in the competition and emphasized that “the kingdom’s infrastructure has demonstrated its resilience and global level of preparedness in anticipation of hosting the 2030 World Cup”.
On the field, the spectacle was also there with 121 goals scored. In the story, we will talk about the final again. This memory will cause eternal regrets for Moroccans. An immense and deserved joy for the Senegalese.
