The outcome of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final has been significantly revised, with Morocco now declared the 3-0 victor over Senegal following a decision from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
This ruling comes 57 days after the original final, where Senegal triumphed 1-0 after extra time.
CAF confirmed that its appeal board had upheld a complaint made by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation.
The governing body determined that Senegal had forfeited the match due to a violation of competition rules.
This ruling officially changes the final score to a 3-0 win for Morocco, with no further sporting penalties imposed beyond the forfeiture.
The controversy revolves around events that transpired late in the game. A penalty was awarded to Morocco during stoppage time, which led to protests from Senegal’s players.
During this delay, the Senegal team temporarily left the pitch, with only captain Sadio Mane remaining. The match was paused for over 15 minutes before the players returned.
After the resumption, Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, and Senegal then scored what seemed to be the decisive goal through Pape Gueye in deep stoppage time.
However, CAF’s appeal board concluded that Senegal’s exit from the field constituted a breach of Article 82 of the AFCON regulations.
This rule states that a team forfeits a match if it leaves the pitch without the referee’s consent. According to Article 84, such a forfeiture is automatically recorded as a 3-0 loss.
CAF confirmed that this regulation was fully applied in arriving at its decision and also rejected all other requests related to the case.
The incident had already faced heavy criticism at the time, with FIFA President Gianni Infantino labeling Senegal’s behavior as ‘unacceptable’ after the match.
The final was further marred by crowd disturbances during the lengthy delay.
The Moroccan federation insisted that its appeal was aimed at enforcing the rules and not at questioning Senegal’s playing capability.
This ruling signifies one of the most contentious decisions in recent AFCON history.
Furthermore, it emphasizes CAF’s commitment to the strict enforcement of regulations during matches.
For Senegal, this marks a disappointing end to a final they had initially believed they won on the field.