AFCON’s Chaotic Final: Everything You Might Have Missed
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
On 18th January 2026, the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco became the stage for one of the most intense finals in the African Cup of Nations’ history. The duel was between the two highest-ranked teams in Africa: hosts Morocco, the Atlas Lions, against Senegal’s Lions of Teranga, in a night that spiralled far beyond football. The chaotic match was filled with confrontations, walk-outs, and controversial referee decisions, which eventually saw Senegal take home the victory.
Blessed by their home-team advantage, Morocco entered the final as favourites over Senegal. The hosts topped Group A with seven points before edging past Tanzania 1-0 in the Round of 16, and Cameroon 2-0 in the quarter final. A tense semi-final against Nigeria, settled on penalties, offered Morocco a taste of the pressure and drama that would define their confrontation with Senegal.
Senegal, who have had regular appearances in semi-finals and have made consecutive finals, also finished at the top of their group, surpassing Sudan, Mali, and Egypt in the knock-out stages to secure their position in the final.
The final featured a star-studded cast, with Premier League players El Hadji Malick Diouf (West Ham United), Idrissa Gueye, Iliman Ndiaye (both Everton) and Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur) representing Senegal, and Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United) and Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland) for Morocco.
A slow start to the game meant that this match-up remained goalless until added time, when Senegal’s Sarr snuck a goal past Morocco. This was then disallowed moments later due to a foul on Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi in the build-up. Shortly after, Morocco was awarded a controversial penalty following a challenge by Diouf on Brahim Díaz. This decision, upheld by VAR, opened the floodgates for chaos.
In response, the Senegalese team, led by coach Pape Thiaw, stormed off in protest, whilst officials, fans, and coaching staff clashed on the pitch. After a 14-minute delay and an ushering on by Sadio Mané, who had earlier revealed that it would be his final AFCON appearance for the national side, Senegal returned to complete the game.
As play resumed, Díaz stepped up to take the penalty in an attempt to secure Morocco’s first AFCON trophy since 1976. His efforts only executed a ‘Panenka’ style penalty that drifted into the hands of Édouard Mendy, the Senegalese keeper. Four minutes into added time and fuelled by a sense of injustice, Pape Gueye cemented a victory for Senegal as he sent a left-footed rocket into the top corner past goalkeeper Yassine Bounou. Later on, cameras caught Díaz in tears on the substitute bench.
Senegal’s victory was undermined, however, with the media attention focusing on the controversial walk-out by the Senegalese players. Senegal’s coach, Pape Thiaw, initially defended his team, saying that he “simply tried to protect my [his] players from injustice”, before later apologising “to football”. Captain Sadio Mané also weighed in, stating that he “would rather lose” than see “something like that [the walk-out] happen in our game”.
The drama has had an immense outcome, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino slamming Senegal’s actions, whilst the Moroccan Football Federation pursued legal action. Pape Thiaw has since been handed a five-match ban and fined $100,000 for ‘unsporting conduct’, part of a wave of fines handed out from the event, including a $615,000 fine for the Senegal Football Federation, totalling almost £1 million.
Although Senegal took home the trophy, this AFCON final will not be remembered for its champions but instead for the chaos consuming the night.