After a crazy evening and endless overtime, Morocco did not realize its crazy dream of winning the CAN on its land. The Atlas Lions were defeated by Senegal, crowned for the second time in their history. The numbers to remember.
1. Pape Gueye scored, in overtime, the very first goal in the history of Senegal in the CAN final, at the end of the… fourth final contested by the Lions of Téranga. The Senegalese failed to score in the game in 2002 (0-0, victory for Cameroon on penalties), 2019 (1-0 victory for Algeria) and 2021 (0-0, victory for Senegal on penalties).
1. It was therefore the very first defeat for Brahim Diaz in the Moroccan jersey after 22 matches, 18 victories and 3 draws.
2. This is Senegal’s second CAN victory after their victory five years ago, in 2021, in Cameroon. Senegal joins Algeria (1990, 2019) and Congo (1968, 1974) on the competition list.
6. This is the 6th time in the 21st century that a CAN final ended 0-0 after regulation time. The previous five had gone to penalties: 2002 (Cameroon’s victory against Senegal), 2006 (Egypt’s victory against Ivory Coast), 2012 (Zambia’s victory against Ivory Coast), 2015 (Ivory Coast’s victory against Ghana) and 2021 (Senegal’s victory against Egypt).
24. This is the number of minutes of added time that passed at the end of the second half, until Brahim Diaz was able to take – and miss – his penalty. Before that, Senegal scored a goal which was disallowed, and the situation escalated after the referee, upon viewing the video, awarded a penalty to Morocco in the 98th minute.
81. Despite 6 more shots than Senegal (20 against 14), Morocco only scored three times in this final, the first time in the 81st minute (81st, 90th + 24, 97th) and counting Brahim Diaz’s penalty. Too little to really worry Édouard Mendy…
100. Pape Gueye’s goal was the 100th goal scored by Senegal in CAN history.
