The African Cup of Nations 2025 came to a rather dramatic end as the Terenga Lions of Senegal won the Atlas Lion of Morroco in extra time to win the AFCON 2025 final today, January 18, 2026, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco.
The match which started at about 20:00hrs Nigerian time was tensely comtedted and filled with drama, contention, particularly in the final moments of the regulation time.
The game remained a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation time after a controversial period of stoppage time when the Senegalese players attempted a walk-out borne out of perceived wrong call for a penalty by the centre referee via a review of the Video Assistant Referee VAR.
Thereafter Brahim Díaz stepped forward to take the penalty which he missed with what seem to be an attempted ‘panenka’ chip, which was saved by Senegalese goalkeeper Édouard Mendy. There were speculations too that the missed penalty was a deliberate but costly fair play by the Moroccan national team after the controversy.
At extra time, Pape Gueye scored the only goal of the match four minutes into extra time with a powerful strike into the top left corner of the goal post. Senegal managed to hold onto the lead through the rest of extra time despite pressure from Morocco.
The game ended with Senegal securing their second Africa Cup of Nations title. Goal keeper Bono and striker Brahim Diaz of Morocco won the golden glove and golden boot respectively while Sadio Mane of Senegal was tipped for the best player of the tournament award.
