In a spectacle that veered from high drama to outright chaos, the Senegal national football team emerged victorious from a tempestuous Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday, defeating tournament hosts Morocco 1-0 after a walk-off protest and a stunning extra-time winner.
The match, intended as a continental celebration, will instead be remembered for a chain of contentious refereeing decisions that threatened to derail the event entirely and cast a long shadow over Senegal’s hard-fought second AFCON title.
The controversy ignited deep into second-half stoppage time. Senegal believed they had snatched a last-gasp victory when Ismaila Sarr headed the ball home, only for Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala to immediately whistle for a push by defender Abdoulaye Seck on Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi.
Moments later, with tensions still high, Ndala awarded Morocco a penalty after a VAR review, judging Senegal’s El Hadji Malick Diouf to have fouled Brahim DÃaz. The sequence of decisions proved too much for Senegal’s camp. Citing a burning sense of injustice and security concerns as frustrated fans clashed with stewards, head coach Pape Thiaw ordered his players off the pitch.
For nearly a quarter of an hour, the fate of the final hung in the balance as Senegal’s squad remained in the dressing room. It was veteran captain Sadio Mané who played the crucial peacemaking role, convincing his teammates to return to the field.
“Sadio told us to come back on the pitch, to remobilise us,” match-winner Pape Gueye later revealed. The drama, however, was far from over. DÃaz, the tournament’s top scorer, stepped up to take the delayed penalty but produced a disastrously weak ‘Panenka’ chip that sailed into the waiting arms of goalkeeper Édouard Mendy.
Rejuvenated by the reprieve, Senegal seized the trophy in the 94th minute of extra time. Gueye, surging forward from midfield, unleashed a thunderous left-footed strike that ripped into the top corner of the net, finally breaking Moroccan hearts and silencing the raucous home crowd in Rabat.
The goal secured Senegal’s second AFCON championship, adding to their 2021 triumph.
The acrimony of the final whistle spilled into the post-match ceremonies, where Moroccan fans booed DÃaz as he collected his runner-up medal, and continued into the press conference room. An attempt by Thiaw to address the media was abandoned as Moroccan and Senegalese journalists shouted each other down, forcing the coach to walk out.
Moroccan coach Walid Regragui did not mince words in his assessment, stating, “The match we had was shameful for Africa”. He further lamented the lost opportunity, saying, “Football sometimes is cruel and today we lost… That penalty in the last seconds could have won us the title”.
The on-field turmoil was preceded by days of mounting off-field grievances from the Senegalese delegation. The Senegal Football Federation had lodged formal complaints about “irregularities” in their treatment, including a lack of security upon their arrival in Rabat, where players were swarmed by the public at a train station.
On the eve of the final, Thiaw had framed these issues as a matter of continental dignity, urging Morocco to protect the “image of Africa.” He argued, “The stakes in football shouldn’t lead us to do certain things, this Sunday should belong to all of Africa”.
In the end, the day belonged to Senegal, but the victory was etched in controversy rather than pure celebration.
While Pape Gueye’s magnificent strike provided a moment of undisputed brilliance, the 2025 AFCON final will be dissected for years for its unprecedented walk-off, its disputed calls, and the question of what it cost for African football’s brothers to become, for one chaotic night, the fiercest of rivals.