Senegal won their second AFCON trophy in the last three editions after a wild 150 minutes of football vs Morocco.
There are a lot of things to talk about regarding the AFCON 2025 final before tactics. Senegal and Morocco played a quite open, back-and-forth match for the first 90 minutes.
But it all went crazy in stoppage time. First Ismaila Sarr saw a goal “disallowed” (not even allowed in the first place) for a soft foul by Abdoulaye Seck in a header before his attempt. And since Ndala Ngambo blew the whistle immediately, there wasn’t even margin for VAR interference.
Then, he called yet another soft foul as Brahim Diaz fell down in the box after a scuffle with West Ham man El Hadji Malick Diouf. At least the referee was consistent with his late-game decisions, but they were both questionable – to say the least.
As a result, manager Pape Thiaw ordered his players to storm off the pitch in protest. They spent nearly 10 minutes in the tunnel before heading back.
In the 24th minute of stoppage time, Diaz attempted a panenka and failed miserably as Edouard Mendy stayed put and saved the shot. We will never know whether it was an intentional miss or just a risky decision that went horribly wrong.
Moroccan head coach Walid Regragui was visibly angry at Diaz, who looked visibly shaken as he surprisingly went back to start extra time. But after a weak shot attempt in the 97th minute, Ilias Akhomach replaced him immediately.
Just a few minutes later, Pape Gueye scored an absolute stunner that ended up giving Senegal the title. To make matters worse for Morocco, sixth substitute Hamza Igamane injured his knee and had to leave the game in extra time half time. The AFCON 2025 hosts had to play the final 15+ minutes with ten men.
How did Senegal beat Morocco?
Sadio Mane’s off-ball work
Sadio Mane was integral to Senegal’s win, but not in the way most would have expected heading into the match.
The first sample of how he would impact the game actually came in the fifth minute. An interception in the attacking half led to a corner kick and Pape Gueye nearly scored from it with a far-post header. It was one of the many important saves that Bono would make to keep Morocco alive.
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And this is exactly how Senegal went on to score, in yet another Gueye attempt. Mane won a tackle in the middle of the park which sparked a fast break. Gana Gueye then served his same-name teammate who thumped the ball in the top corner.
The Villarreal midfielder actually had a better chance late on in the second half, from closer range, also in his preferred left foot. But he couldn’t hit it properly and sent it well wide. The more difficult one, he scored beautifully.
Mane ended the game with outstanding defensive numbers, showing how committed he was to doing whatever was needed in order to win the game.
Key stats:
- 30 duels contested (Ranked #1)
- 14 duels won (Ranked #1)
- 7 possessions won (Ranked #1)
- 2 interceptions (Ranked #1)
- 5 fouls committed (Ranked #1)
- 3 tackles (Ranked #3)
Morocco’s midfield struggles
The whole game looked wide open in terms of space. Both teams played with distant lines and two blocks of players, one at the back and the other up front.
But Morocco completely ignored the central corridor in their build-ups. For the most part, they also ignored the right side. Noussair Mazraoui had a great performance as left-back and his connections with Abdessamad Ezzalzouli were their main source of danger.
But it never created any concrete goalscoring opportunities. Centre-midfielders Ismael Saibari would join the pair on the left, while Bilal El Khannouss drifted wide to the right when the ball was there, alongside Brahim Diaz and Achraf Hakimi.
Regragui’s preferrence for the left side took out the most creative and threatening trio that he had. In the second half, things changed a little and Morocco created their best chances from the right side.
This wide in-possession setup also hurt them defensively. Whenever they lost possession, holding midfielder Neil El Aynaoui was left alone to cover the centre-backs, leaving them exposed.
And when they were sitting deeper, their idea was to form a 4-1-4-1 marking zonally. They allowed Senegal’s midfielders and forwards to drop between the lines, but never stopped the passes from entering that zone.
Deserved win
| Stats | Senegal | Morocco |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 50% | 50% |
| Shots (on target) | 14 (7) | 20 (3) |
| Big chances | 4 | 3 |
Ultimately, Senegal did more to deserve the win than Morocco. They had two different one-on-one situations between their players and the goalkeeper, but Bono won both battles. First it was Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye and then Cherif Ndiaye in extra time.
The Samsunspor striker actually followed up on his miss with an even worse one. He missed an open net – but Bono did just enough to graze the ball before Ndiaye took his shot. And there was Pape Gueye’s header early on that the Moroccan goalkeeper appeared suddenly and miraculously to keep the ball out.
Morocco played better in the second half and managed to pile on some pressure in extra time despite playing with 10 men. There was a sequence from a corner that featured five attempts within four seconds – including a Nayef Aguerd header that hit the crossbar.
But all in all, Senegal looked superior and deserved the win. They also would have been incredibly hard done by had Brahim Diaz scored the penalty in stoppage time.