What a finale! Senegal triumphed for the second time late on Sunday evening at the Africa Cup of Nationsbeat hosts Morocco 1-0 after extra time. But behind the sober numbers there was a great drama. The final of the 35th Africa Cup was about to be canceled: it experienced tumult and physical altercations on the pitch, fights between fans and stewards and ultimately found a sporting winner. What remained was a battered final loser Morocco and, in Brahim Diaz, a footballer who could have become a hero for his nation. But in the end he was one of the biggest losers the Cup has seen.
It was 90 minutes long Host Morocco and Senegal delivered a top-class final in the eerily cold Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, but the score was 0-0. Then things got dramatic. And referee Jean-Jaques Ndala found himself at the center of the action. First he denied Senegal a goal in stoppage time because of an alleged foul, then at the other end he awarded a penalty for Morocco due to an easy hold.
The Senegalese fans in the stands were beside themselves, dozens jumped over the barriers and fought with the stewards. The West African players left the pitch and only returned after 20 minutes and the intervention of their captain Sadio Mané.
There was still a penalty. And it came on: Brahim Diaz. But the Real Madrid star, who had already paved the way for Team Morocco to the final with five tournament goals, failed from the spot. He wanted to loft the ball all too casually into the middle of the goal – which Senegal keeper Edouard Mendy had suspected. The keeper was able to parry easily. The game had to go into overtime.
Senegal on top
What happened there was basically predetermined: Senegal was on top in what was now pouring rain, and Morocco’s players needed minutes to compose themselves to some extent. The West African team, the “Lions of Teranga”, as they are called, took advantage of this: In the 94th minute, Pape Gueye burst through the midfield from the left and aimed precisely from around 16 meters away. His left-footed shot hit Morocco’s keeper Yassine Bounou in the top right corner, unstoppable – Senegal led 1-0.
Sadio Mané’s team never gave up this advantage. While Brahim Diaz was the tragic hero of this final, Mané became a lucky hero. With his calm reaction and the initiative to bring his teammates back onto the field, he gave Senegal the chance to actually win this crazy game on their side.
After 2022 – when Egypt was beaten in the final penalty shootout – Mané secured his second African championship title together with his colleagues from the “Golden Generation”. The 33-year-old attacker, who became a world star at Liverpool FC and has been playing for Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia since 2023 after an unfortunate year at FC Bayern Munich, had already announced before the final that this would be the last Africa Cup game of his career. In two years, Mané no longer wants to be there at the 2027 tournament, which will be held in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
But the end of the national team is by no means scheduled right away. Next summer, Mané will play the World Cup with his teammates. Just like Morocco, by the way, which actually only wanted to warm up for the big world tournament at the Africa Cup on home soil.
Morocco’s difference player
As top favorites in Morocco, they wanted to take the Africa Cup with them in passing, which worked out quite well until the final. The team that has been his semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is currently the best on the African continent, although they rarely played brilliantly, they prevailed safely until the final and made an increasingly stable impression. With a difference player in the ranks who only decided to play for Morocco’s national team in October 2024.
Brahim Diaz – born in Malaga, Spain – has a Spanish mother and a Moroccan father. In his youth, he played for Spain’s youth national teams and even played a test match for the senior team. But then he decided – because coach Regragui convinced him – to change teams. At the tournament he developed into Morocco’s decisive man and could have become a hero. It didn’t work. Senegal triumphed and Morocco’s defeat left a bad aftertaste.
“Signs of chaotic conditions in African football have once again been broadcast to the world,” said Sadio Mané after the game. And Morocco coach Regragui said: “This game was unworthy of a final. What Senegal did in between was not okay. The fact that Diaz took the penalty the way he took it, we have to and will live with that.” Brahim Diaz said after the game: nothing. He accepted the trophy for the tournament’s top scorer with a sad look on his face. And left.