•Senegal forward Sadio Mane holds up the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match against Morocco on January 18, 2026
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title they won in January and declared Morocco champions.
Several Senegalese players had temporarily left the pitch late in the match in protest at a refereeing decision, reports AFP.
CAF in a statement yesterday said “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” a 1-0 victory in the final, “with the result being officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement “its action was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.
Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest a late penalty awarded to Morocco.
The decision to award Morocco the spot-kick came right at the end of normal time with the game goalless, and sparked a walk-off from the eventual winners, leading to a 20-minute delay.
When Senegal came back Brahim Diaz fluffed his penalty, and Pape Gueye went on to score the winner in extra time.
The controversial final
Senegal stunned Morocco in January’s AFCON final as Pape Gueye’s goal gave them a 1-0 extra-time win over the hosts at the end of a match marred by disgraceful scenes following a controversial penalty award.
Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco when he stepped up to take the spot-kick in the 24th added minute at the end of normal time.
But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay of almost 20 minutes that followed the penalty award.
Congolese match referee Jean-Jacques Ndala gave the penalty right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes following a VAR check for a challenge on Diaz in the box by Senegal defender El Hadji Malick Diouf.
Diaz, the rest of the Moroccan team and their bench vehemently protested to the referee to check the images, but the decision to eventually give the spot-kick was met with fury by Senegal and their fans.
As most of their players walked off the pitch, some Senegal supporters in the small section of away fans at the opposite end of the stadium threw chairs and other objects and attempted to get onto the field of play.
They were eventually contained by a large barrier of police and stewards, and their anger turned to delight and disbelief when the penalty was saved.
The Senegal team had initially been riled by the referee’s decision to disallow for a foul a goal they scored in the second added minute when Abdoulaye Seck headed off the post at a corner and Ismaila Sarr nodded in the rebound.
After Diaz’s penalty miss, however, it felt almost inevitable that a galvanised Senegal would go on to score, and they did so in the fourth minute of extra time to stun the home fans in the crowd of 66,526 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
