Senegal Defeats Morocco to Claim Second Africa Cup of Nations Title

Senegal won their second-ever AFCON trophy against the Atlas Lions of Morocco at the Moulay Abdallah Stadium this Sunday, January 18. The game had everything: controversial decisions, crowd trouble, and a stunning winning goal. The finale of this 35th AFCON edition will go down as an all-time classic.

In the 94th minute, Pape Gueye was racing down the south end of the field to celebrate the winning goal of the contest. However, at the end of regulation time, the entire Senegalese team—led by Pape Thiaw—attempted to walk off the pitch after referee Jean-Jacques Ndala consulted the pitchside monitor to award Morocco a penalty.

                 Match report

The match began under a deafening roar from the Moroccan faithful, but Senegal refused to be intimidated. From the first minute, the visitors asserted their physical presence. Senegal’s first major warning came in the seventh minute when Pape Gueye’s stinging set-piece strike was expertly parried by Yassine Bounou.

Morocco struggled to find their rhythm early on, though Abde Ezzalzouli’s crossing caused chaos in the twenty-fifth minute. The standout moment of the half arrived in the thirty-seventh minute when Iliman Ndiaye carved through the Moroccan backline, only to be denied by a world-class reflex save from Bounou. At the break, the score remained level, with both sides locked in a stalemate.

The second half saw the tension escalate significantly. Morocco should have taken the lead in the fifty-eighth minute, but Ayoub El Kaabi inexplicably missed the target from six yards out. As the clock ticked down, the match descended into a series of physical confrontations, including a bloody head injury to Morocco’s El Aynaoui that forced a lengthy stoppage for treatment.

The final moments of regulation time produced scenes rarely witnessed in a major final. In the ninety-second minute, Ismaïla Sarr’s headed goal for Senegal was controversially ruled out for a foul in the buildup. Just four minutes later, the referee awarded Morocco a penalty after a VAR review for a foul on Brahim Díaz. Outraged by the decision, the Senegalese team briefly walked off the pitch under the instruction of coach Pape Thiaw, halting play for nearly twenty minutes. When play finally resumed in the ninety-fourth minute of added time, Brahim Díaz attempted a daring Panenka penalty. Edouard Mendy stood his ground, catching the ball with ease in a moment that shifted the momentum irrevocably as the game moved into extra time.

With the match pushed into the additional thirty minutes, Senegal struck with lightning speed. In the ninety-fourth minute, Pape Gueye embarked on a solo run, skipping past two Moroccan defenders before unleashing a twenty-yard thunderbolt into the top corner. Morocco threw everything forward in response during the second half of extra time. Nayef Aguerd saw a powerful header rattle the crossbar in the one-hundred-eighth minute, and Youssef En-Nesyri missed a golden opportunity shortly after. Despite the late onslaught and an open-goal miss by Cherif Ndiaye that could have doubled the lead, Senegal’s defense remained unbreakable.

As the clock hit one hundred and twenty minutes, the referee’s whistle signaled the end of a marathon. Senegal’s players collapsed in joy, having successfully defended their reputation as Africa’s most resilient side. For Morocco, it was a night of missed opportunities, particularly surrounding the failed penalty. For Senegal, the goal by Pape Gueye and the heroics of Edouard Mendy ensured a historic victory on North African soil.