African Football Discussion Thread Current Topic: 👉 AFCON 2025/2026

[Sandra_hakeem]

Well, I did mentioned that speculation in my previous post as this is what many people seriously believed, that he deliberately choose to waste the penalty because he knew that they did not deserve that and that the referee on awarded them to penalty to make winning easy for them while he canceled the goal from the senagal side

Just imagine doing all that and still having them lose to Senegal in the most gruesome ways to Morocco. How do you kick a penalty like that, but with the hopes to score? It wasn't just meant to happen that way and that's fact. Calvin Bassey Probably the best defensive output in a match I have seen in all the AFCON matches this year by a single player! Real shame Nigeria couldn't win on penalties, they literally threw the game away when the big players didn't even show up for the penalties. After watching their performance in this AFCON, all I can say is the they probably wasted their opportunity of grabbing the AFCON trophy.

Despite playing every single match at home in front of a loud crowd of 69,500, Morocco still couldn't find the back of the net when it mattered most. If they were truly better, they would have scored at least a few goals, but they couldn't even with all those fans behind them and the comfort of a familiar pitch.

[SatoPrincess]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

[Majestic-milf]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

Yeah, Sadio Mane was able to play the role of shepherd and I bet you, it's the kind of respect one needs to get in a team so that when you speak the others would follow. It's no wonder he was given the Player of Tournament award because if you watched his performance throughout, he was always playing an instrumental role in each of them. Kudos to them for their valiant effort to get this far and win the trophy, for me they are truly deserving of it.

[DaNNy001]

I was so happy yesterday that Senegal was the country that lifted the Africa cup of nations, it was again clear that the Morocco people bribed the referee to be in their side same thing they did to Nigerias but thank God their plans didn’t work out. I see some people saying the coach won’t have asked the players to come out from the beach that he did a wrong thing to me what he did was not wrong because how will the referee cancel there goal and few minute later gave Morocco a penalty, I’m so happy they missed the penalty and then Senegal scored and then won the match, if Morocco lifted the Africa cup of nations it would’ve been the worst tournament in history, God is surely wonderful and justice is served. A very Big congratulations to Senegal for winning the trophy they deserve it.

well, i don't know about the people from morroco bribing the Ghanaian referee that was part of the officials in the game against Nigeria but one thing I know is that Nigeria could beat Morocco but I don't know why they were really distracted...Senegal winning the game made me satisfied, a lot of Nigerians can relate to that..But at the end of the day Africa still remains one, congratulations to Senegal

[Finebone]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

People are allowed to believe what ever they want, but with what I saw yesterday, it was very clear that their was an agreement between caf, Senegal and Morocco that they should miss the penalty for peace to reign, since they can't cancel the penalty that the referee has already given,  because how can we explain that Diaz that is a left footed player decides to do a paneka penalty with his right, instead of his left?
Caf didn't saw it coming that Senegal was ready to bring African football into the gutters by walking away, because the officiating was despicable.
So anyone that thinks that Diaz miss the penalty unintentional is just still naive because the hand writing is just very clear on the wall, so caf should be held responsible for all that happens yesterday, not Senegal.

[Stepstowealth]

People are allowed to believe what ever they want, but with what I saw yesterday, it was very clear that their was an agreement between caf, Senegal and Morocco that they should miss the penalty for peace to reign, since they can't cancel the penalty that the referee has already given,  because how can we explain that Diaz that is a left footed player decides to do a paneka penalty with his right, instead of his left?
Caf didn't saw it coming that Senegal was ready to bring African football into the gutters by walking away, because the officiating was despicable.
So anyone that thinks that Diaz miss the penalty unintentional is just still naive because the hand writing is just very clear on the wall, so caf should be held responsible for all that happens yesterday, not Senegal.

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

Diaz wanted to do something different, embarrass Senegal more in the process, and that is why he tried that.

[ibuddy122505]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

Yeah, Sadio Mane was able to play the role of shepherd and I bet you, it's the kind of respect one needs to get in a team so that when you speak the others would follow. It's no wonder he was given the Player of Tournament award because if you watched his performance throughout, he was always playing an instrumental role in each of them. Kudos to them for their valiant effort to get this far and win the trophy, for me they are truly deserving of it.

Sadio Mane didn't just win AFCON but something bigger. He won the hearts of Senegal and all of Africa. The way he stood strong and inspired his teammates was incredible. In the final against Morocco, his calmness and maturity under pressure showed true leadership once again. That's why his legacy is bigger than just talent. It's about class, discipline, and a deep pride in his country.

[Rockson1]

The super eagle has never done well since all these while and I don't know why you are praising them for getting a third position.
Super eagle claimed to be the giant of Africa but we are not seeing anything like giant in them.
We wished them good luck in their endeavors and I will like to congratulate Senegal for becoming the eye of AFCON.

The messed up actually but we should atleast praise them, third place is not actually good but going home with something is not bad, I understand your anger and I know that it has always been an excuse to justify their lapses, which is very bad, but in this AFCON I do not think they performed very bad even till their very last match, they were very good at what they were doing, I know that the world cup that they fail to qualify when we know that they have everything to make it possible and they could not, has been a big problem for and it has made to continue to have I'll feeling about them, did I hear you say giant of Africa? They are not, those are just big name for nothing.

[Rikafip]

I think CAF really needs to do better to avoid future occurrence of what happened yesterday in that Afcon final game between Host nation Morocco and Senegal, it was shambolic and pure disgrace to Africa Football.

This was just embarassing. And then people wonder why rest of the world doesn't take african football/football players seriously, but how can we, when we see stuff like that? I mean, this kind of behaviour you won't see at u14 european tournaments, and here we have grown up people and professional football players acting like 13 year old kids.

Sad thing is, it won't be the last time.

[Sexylizzy2813]

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

Diaz wanted to do something different, embarrass Senegal more in the process, and that is why he tried that.

Nobody can tell if he intentionally missed that penalty kick, but I can tell you for free that, that moment was to calm the whole tension down, it was a stage play and if you check properly that penalty would have been retaken, why? Because the goalkeeper (Mendy) wasn't on his line before it was taken but the ref and VAR including the lines man ignored the whole thing so let's not see it that Diaz had the intention of scoring, he knew what he was doing.
They want the game to be a fair game and they felt they had the upper hands still but the whole thing turned against them, now check out the goal Senegal scored, that was not a foul but the ref cancelled the goal, if that goal wasn't cancelled the penalty to Morocco won't have happened, so you see, the penalty came and the player if not all the players decided to do the right thing, that was why we saw that weak penalty and I'll call that Diaz penalty " Penalty Of Peace".

[SatoPrincess]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

People are allowed to believe what ever they want, but with what I saw yesterday, it was very clear that their was an agreement between caf, Senegal and Morocco that they should miss the penalty for peace to reign, since they can't cancel the penalty that the referee has already given,  because how can we explain that Diaz that is a left footed player decides to do a paneka penalty with his right, instead of his left?
Caf didn't saw it coming that Senegal was ready to bring African football into the gutters by walking away, because the officiating was despicable.
So anyone that thinks that Diaz miss the penalty unintentional is just still naive because the hand writing is just very clear on the wall, so caf should be held responsible for all that happens yesterday, not Senegal.

Like you said, everyone is free to believe what they want. Nowadays you can say a man is a woman, and some people will agree with you. I think it’s ridiculous that anyone would suggest that CAF, Senegal, and Morocco had an agreement to rig the match mid-game. You base your allegations on the theory that Diaz cannot miss a penalty?

[Princess Leah]

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

Diaz wanted to do something different, embarrass Senegal more in the process, and that is why he tried that.

Nobody can tell if he intentionally missed that penalty kick, but I can tell you for free that, that moment was to calm the whole tension down, it was a stage play and if you check properly that penalty would have been retaken, why? Because the goalkeeper (Mendy) wasn't on his line before it was taken but the ref and VAR including the lines man ignored the whole thing so let's not see it that Diaz had the intention of scoring, he knew what he was doing.
They want the game to be a fair game and they felt they had the upper hands still but the whole thing turned against them, now check out the goal Senegal scored, that was not a foul but the ref cancelled the goal, if that goal wasn't cancelled the penalty to Morocco won't have happened, so you see, the penalty came and the player if not all the players decided to do the right thing, that was why we saw that weak penalty and I'll call that Diaz penalty " Penalty Of Peace".

You're making some good point, cause when the referee made that wrong call there was lots of tension between the fans and some stewards trying to obstruct them from going into the pitch, maybe a fight between the fans of both teams would've break out so missing that penalty helped calm the pressure and made the game fair.

 Although I'm not in support of what the Senegalese head coach did, instructing his players to leave the pitch when the match wasn't over, it doesn't show professionalism, that's why I respect Sadio Mane for his effort to calm the situation and call his teammates to order. Hahaha that's a sad truth it's indeed a " Penalty Of Peace".

[Lida93]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

Yeah, Sadio Mane was able to play the role of shepherd and I bet you, it's the kind of respect one needs to get in a team so that when you speak the others would follow. It's no wonder he was given the Player of Tournament award because if you watched his performance throughout, he was always playing an instrumental role in each of them. Kudos to them for their valiant effort to get this far and win the trophy, for me they are truly deserving of it.

Many is one of the most influencial player in the Senegalese national team who has made his name far and near across Europe and for this reason a lot of the players who are also his colleagues accords his much respect even to the national team's coach. And it's a leadership position he really put to greater use in the midst of the drama that took place in that AFCON final. What happened in the AFCON should serve as lesson to CAF to prevent such disgraceful scenes from repeating because African football ought to have gone pass this dramas we saw in that night between Senegal Vs Morocco.

[Fiatless]

well, i don't know about the people from morroco bribing the Ghanaian referee that was part of the officials in the game against Nigeria but one thing I know is that Nigeria could beat Morocco but I don't know why they were really distracted...Senegal winning the game made me satisfied, a lot of Nigerians can relate to that..But at the end of the day Africa still remains one, congratulations to Senegal

Bad officiating could affect the performance of any team. However, I still believe that a good side cam still wins games even when the referee is biased. Nigeria didn't play well against Morocco.  I am not blaming the Super Eagles for losing because they played their best. My take is that the Nigerian side would have beaten Morocco if they had played like Senegal. Let us do this comparison by the statistics of both games.

Nigeria - Morocco
           

Senegal - Morroco


Even with bad officiating Senegal still proved their worth.

[Sexylizzy2813]

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

Diaz wanted to do something different, embarrass Senegal more in the process, and that is why he tried that.

Nobody can tell if he intentionally missed that penalty kick, but I can tell you for free that, that moment was to calm the whole tension down, it was a stage play and if you check properly that penalty would have been retaken, why? Because the goalkeeper (Mendy) wasn't on his line before it was taken but the ref and VAR including the lines man ignored the whole thing so let's not see it that Diaz had the intention of scoring, he knew what he was doing.
They want the game to be a fair game and they felt they had the upper hands still but the whole thing turned against them, now check out the goal Senegal scored, that was not a foul but the ref cancelled the goal, if that goal wasn't cancelled the penalty to Morocco won't have happened, so you see, the penalty came and the player if not all the players decided to do the right thing, that was why we saw that weak penalty and I'll call that Diaz penalty " Penalty Of Peace".

You're making some good point, cause when the referee made that wrong call there was lots of tension between the fans and some stewards trying to obstruct them from going into the pitch, maybe a fight between the fans of both teams would've break out so missing that penalty helped calm the pressure and made the game fair.

 Although I'm not in support of what the Senegalese head coach did, instructing his players to leave the pitch when the match wasn't over, it doesn't show professionalism, that's why I respect Sadio Mane for his effort to calm the situation and call his teammates to order. Hahaha that's a sad truth it's indeed a " Penalty Of Peace".

If we talk about the Senegal coach, for me I'd say that was what he's suppose to do base on anger and what have been going on since the beginning of this tournament. Haven't you noticed that some of these crazy calls always happen when it has to do with the Morocco team against any country just to favor the host? But if you see any country against a country that's not Morocco the officiating won't have any dirty stuff in it, that's why I even supported what the Senegal coach did at first but I later realized that they might be a ban on the national team of Senegal.
Mane doing what he did was some how pointing at one direction, that the information had reached him that it would be a fair game, fine that's what the captain is suppose to do but yet again everyone on the pitch had it in mind that that penalty wasn't going into the back of the net, it is clean, even the Senegal coach Pape Bouna was laughing at the missed penalty, it shows that the whole thing was one big drama. After the miss it was like a 50/50 thing, a disallowed goal and a missed penalty for peace, anything that happens now is on you guys so go and play yourself out...that was the game of yesterday.

[Ale88]

I just read the story about the Moroccan ball boys who stole the towels from the goalkeepers, in order to prevent them to properly clean/dry the gloves. And it's ridicolous. And then I saw the video of the Moroccan ball boys literally assaulting Senegal's second goalkeeper, Diouf, who, knowing what they were going to do, was standing the to the goal holding the towel in his hands, and since he wasn't giving them the towel they pushed him and put their hands on him. How is this even allowed?! I'm so glad Senegal win, this was pure karma. I really hope we'll never see something like this ever again.

[Taricoins]

People are allowed to believe what ever they want, but with what I saw yesterday, it was very clear that their was an agreement between caf, Senegal and Morocco that they should miss the penalty for peace to reign, since they can't cancel the penalty that the referee has already given,  because how can we explain that Diaz that is a left footed player decides to do a paneka penalty with his right, instead of his left?
Caf didn't saw it coming that Senegal was ready to bring African football into the gutters by walking away, because the officiating was despicable.
So anyone that thinks that Diaz miss the penalty unintentional is just still naive because the hand writing is just very clear on the wall, so caf should be held responsible for all that happens yesterday, not Senegal.

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

Diaz wanted to do something different, embarrass Senegal more in the process, and that is why he tried that.

I agree with you, Diaz losing a penalty because of an agreement, I call that loads of crap, all the time they were having referee advantages did they voluntarily tell the refs to stop ? Plus he was playing a script but he wept when he lost the penalty and even apologized to his teammates, we need to understand that Morrocco will not just agree to lose there penalty when they know what's at stake.

On another note, I totally agree with the Senegal team walking out, some one needed to have the balls to say NO to that stupid officiating, they need same thing to Nigeria although Senegal were a better team because they actually won despite the the whole situations, even as they came back after the walkout atleast they passed the message. Even the Senegal Football Federation agreed with the decision of the manager.

[Salahmu]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

They listen to him when he called them, even there coached that didn't want it that way also obeyed mane when he said they would play, although Senegal would have been in trouble on the hands of CAF, for not agreeing to the final decision of referee and also going out in an ongoing match, they could have even suspended them from next four years the AFCON would be played, is like Mane was aware of it that's why he didn't want to leave. I was surprised Morocco didn't shine on Senegal because before 70 minutes Senegal almost won them, Moroccan goalkeeper deserved the award as best keeper.

[Sammye3]

[On another note, I totally agree with the Senegal team walking out, some one needed to have the balls to say NO to that stupid officiating, they need same thing to Nigeria although Senegal were a better team because they actually won despite the the whole situations, even as they came back after the walkout atleast they passed the message. Even the Senegal Football Federation agreed with the decision of the manager.

It was very clear that the referee was on Morocco's side against Nigeria, everybody saw the countless unanswered offences, fouls, and undeserving freebies given to the host country. Nigeria still managed to hold on regardless of the bad officiating till penalties and lost out.

You sound very naive to think Diaz missed intentionally. If he wanted to miss, why not play the ball away from the target of he goal post? The last time Morocco won the African Cup of Nations was in 1976 and Ethiopia was the host then, it will be crazy to think that they would throw away an opportunity to the African Cup of Nations again after so many years. If Diaz missed the penalty intentionaly, why was he crying after?

I see people coming up with this conclusion, and I don't see any reason why Diaz would miss the penalty in a critical final match because they both needed the win and it's not a game to forfeit over a planned outcome. Both teams played well, but Morocco had favors from the referee even during the match against Nigeria but I think they got what they deserved.

[Different patterns]

In my opinion, Senegal owes this victory to Mane. The Senegalese players and manager were angry about the penalty and didn’t look like they were going to continue the game, fortunately for them, Mane intervened and brought the players back into the field. Now, was the referee bias towards the host nation, I don’t know but it would have been a different headline if Senegal had refused to continue the match.

Yeah, Sadio Mane was able to play the role of shepherd and I bet you, it's the kind of respect one needs to get in a team so that when you speak the others would follow. It's no wonder he was given the Player of Tournament award because if you watched his performance throughout, he was always playing an instrumental role in each of them. Kudos to them for their valiant effort to get this far and win the trophy, for me they are truly deserving of it.

Senegal really deserve this win I just say, for them to win a final in the opponents home is indeed a commendable effort, the protest was something I did support honestly because African football is now something else I must say and even when we thought all hope was gone, Mendy brought back the players hopes by saving that penalty and in no time, they won the title with a powerful determination. What we just experienced yesterday was they all work together as a team and they also tried to keep their hope alive and things work in their favour. This is a deserved win for Senegal, congratulations to them. I am happy for them.