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

[BIT-BENDER]

Morocco almost tarnished the image of the African cup of Nations, I don't think they almost did but they did tarnish the image of African football something that took so long to build.
How can you host the African cup of Nations and now feel entitled to lifting the title it does not even make any sense to me. The towel incidence with goal keepers still baffles me, I was also very disgusted to see Hakimi with so much exposure doing it, taking the goal keeper's towel and throwing it away.

[RockBell]

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.

Mane will be for ever remembered for how he was so professional about the game even when he knew that a lot of things were not going right. And after the Senegal players left the pitch it was Mane that asked them to come back and we know that leaving the pitch was not professional but I love exactly what they did because it was something that was not expected and Senegal players deserved that winning and morrocco, and am sure no body is going to addressed what happened. But they should have addressed it because something like this have not happened before and a lot of people will lose trust for the African football because of what happened.

[programmer3666]

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.

I 100 percent agree! Mane was clearly the difference maker, all thanks to his leadership qualities and also his mindset of strong patience and commitment to the sport. If he had not stood firm to usher back in the rest of the players onto the pitch so they could continue playing, then the storyline would have been different by now. At the end they won the trophy because football is one tricky kind of sport! Events can turn on a blink of an eye. The referee's decisions will always spark debate in the coming weeks, but Mane and his teammates show maturity and in the end, they reap the benefits.

[Zanab247]

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.

If not that Senegal took that decision to leave the field, the referee would have done another one that would have be worster than the first one, because Senegal decision make the referee to develop some fear to make the game fair to both club. From the starting of the final game, there are some notice that referee is against Senegal because there are some ruff Play against Senegal the referee will not blow but once Senegal by mistakes play rough with Morocco players the referee will blow against Senegal, but Senegal never give up with that challenge until the game enter penalty shootout.

Mane really played a mature mind attitude in that final game yesterday, because some of their players nearly give up with the kind cheating that was about to happen for Morocco to take advantage of the host to beat Senegal, but it was too late for such to favour Morocco. One thing I notice about the final game is that many people supported the host to lose the trophy which they did.

[Unsoldier]

It’s a shame I was asleep during the final. If I had known how tense and dramatic it would be, I would definitely have watched it live. I’ve seen the highlights, and I can’t say the penalty was clearly undeserved, but I can’t say the opposite either. Maybe in the Premier League a foul like that wouldn’t have led to a penalty, but the referee decided it was a foul, and there were plenty of questions about his decisions throughout the match.
That said, the way Díaz took the penalty was outstanding, no words. Anyway, congratulations to Senegal — a deserved victory in the end.

[PremiumcryptoHub]

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.

Mane will be for ever remembered for how he was so professional about the game even when he knew that a lot of things were not going right. And after the Senegal players left the pitch it was Mane that asked them to come back and we know that leaving the pitch was not professional but I love exactly what they did because it was something that was not expected and Senegal players deserved that winning and morrocco, and am sure no body is going to addressed what happened. But they should have addressed it because something like this have not happened before and a lot of people will lose trust for the African football because of what happened.

Senegal won the African Cup of Nations League but I think Sadio Mane inspired the players in a new way because everyone saw that the Senegalese players had left the field but this player brought those players back. Anyway, maybe Senegal didn't know that they would be champions but they are fortunate to be champions, so it can be said that we should never give up but rather try our best. In fact Morocco could not become champions because of the mistake of a Real Madrid player in this game because I think that if Brahim Diaz had been able to score the penalty short correctly, they might have been the champions of the AFCON tournament. Anyway, Senegal has won two AFCON titles and it must be said that Sadio Mane has a lot of contribution to winning this title in this new year.

[Mate2237]

It’s a shame I was asleep during the final. If I had known how tense and dramatic it would be, I would definitely have watched it live. I’ve seen the highlights, and I can’t say the penalty was clearly undeserved, but I can’t say the opposite either. Maybe in the Premier League a foul like that wouldn’t have led to a penalty, but the referee decided it was a foul, and there were plenty of questions about his decisions throughout the match.
That said, the way Díaz took the penalty was outstanding, no words. Anyway, congratulations to Senegal — a deserved victory in the end.

of you are only concerned about the penalty what happened to the goal that were disallowed which Senegal scored. Why didn't the VAR call the referee to check it out the way that they called him in the buildup to the penalty. This is why people are talking it makes the whole process suspicious, It's really a shame that CAF is allowing these types of things in African football it looks like there is a hidden agenda by CAF because in now no official has been called out by CAF. Just look at how Diaz was shouting at the referee before the VAR called him, that was not appropriate and a yellow car should have been given but nothing happened.



This is a deliberate attempt by CAF to intentionally favour one team, the new coming out of this nation cup is just too disgusting imagine the referee of a final been appointed hours before the game, or that only five police men were assigned to Senegal will you talk about the the small hotel that was given to Senegal. Eto complain by this and what happened instead of looking into his arguments he was rather band and fined $20,000 . This is thesame complain that African sides do when they are not treated well in the world cup
 Especially when badly refereeing decision goes against them.

[GeorgeJohn]

It’s a shame I was asleep during the final. If I had known how tense and dramatic it would be, I would definitely have watched it live. I’ve seen the highlights, and I can’t say the penalty was clearly undeserved, but I can’t say the opposite either. Maybe in the Premier League a foul like that wouldn’t have led to a penalty, but the referee decided it was a foul, and there were plenty of questions about his decisions throughout the match.
That said, the way Díaz took the penalty was outstanding, no words. Anyway, congratulations to Senegal — a deserved victory in the end.

That means you wasn't interested to the match and that's why you sleep during the match, sometimes it happens..and another thing that will make you to sleep and forget about match is when you stake for it..

Or you have BP and you dont want to watch so that you will not develop high BP...penalty always give people hearts attack especially if your is playing with another country.

[snipie]

It’s a shame I was asleep during the final. If I had known how tense and dramatic it would be, I would definitely have watched it live. I’ve seen the highlights, and I can’t say the penalty was clearly undeserved, but I can’t say the opposite either. Maybe in the Premier League a foul like that wouldn’t have led to a penalty, but the referee decided it was a foul, and there were plenty of questions about his decisions throughout the match.
That said, the way Díaz took the penalty was outstanding, no words. Anyway, congratulations to Senegal — a deserved victory in the end.

That means you wasn't interested to the match and that's why you sleep during the match, sometimes it happens..and another thing that will make you to sleep and forget about match is when you stake for it..

Or you have BP and you dont want to watch so that you will not develop high BP...penalty always give people hearts attack especially if your is playing with another country.

The penalty that was missed by Diaz was staged. The way he threw the ball, the reaction of Morocco and Senegal players and what happened before the penalty are clear arguments for this shot.
Diaz was instructed to do that and Senegal goalkeeper was told how the ball will be shot. Morocco wants to win the game and get the cup after 50 years at least but what they want most is to see the match finishing and everyone cheering the way they organised it. Senegal coach pushed them to the limit when he forced his players to retreat from the field and to boycott the match at its end because of the ridiculous referee decisions. Morocco management decided to sacrifice the penalty so they can finish the game.

[Cossyblack]

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 are allowed to express about the just concluded Final between Senegal and Morocco. Your observation may be valid to an extend because Brahim Diaz could never have taken that reckless shot with his right foot in such an important position. For me Diaz reckless penalty could have been due to tension. Diaz was under pressure and any player could have missed that penalty in his position.  Diaz mistakes wasn't intentional,penalty is 50/50 in football.

[Nheer]

Morocco almost tarnished the image of the African cup of Nations, I don't think they almost did but they did tarnish the image of African football something that took so long to build.
How can you host the African cup of Nations and now feel entitled to lifting the title it does not even make any sense to me. The towel incidence with goal keepers still baffles me, I was also very disgusted to see Hakimi with so much exposure doing it, taking the goal keeper's towel and throwing it away.

Truth be told I was so disappointed in them and their actions in this tournament, I sincerely didn't see them as a nation that are capable of doing all this things they did. There have not been regards for African football but for some time now we have managed to elevate it and a lot of people are now giving it chance, the games as now been decent and more arranged compared to back in the days but Moroccans acted immature they made it look like a joke. Why do they think that they are entitled to lift the trophy just because they host it? It's never so, if you play well and win it based on merit then fine but don't try to cheat your way up there it's never appropriate.

I am baffled as well, I just keep wondering what exactly do they do with the towels, they did it with almost every team they faced but Senegal came prepared. I am disappointed with Hakimi behavior too. If it was to be another country that did this I wouldn't be so surprised but Morocco I am disappointed in them.

[Abdulzuruku01]

Morocco almost tarnished the image of the African cup of Nations, I don't think they almost did but they did tarnish the image of African football something that took so long to build.
How can you host the African cup of Nations and now feel entitled to lifting the title it does not even make any sense to me. The towel incidence with goal keepers still baffles me, I was also very disgusted to see Hakimi with so much exposure doing it, taking the goal keeper's towel and throwing it away.

Honestly that was unprofessional. Morocco was desperate to lift the AFCON trophy by force just because they're the hosts and that's not proper. They did the same to Nigeria keeper Nwabali, poor officiating and took over the stadium by Moroccans so I wasn't surprised by their poor behaviour yesterday.

Being hosts doesn't give you priority or mean you must win by force you should respect other teams. Just do your best if it's meant to be yours, you'll win. I remember the previous AFCON in 2024 when Ivory Coast hosted they proved they deserved it by playing well. They didn't manipulate officiating like Morocco did.

[Abu-Naim]

Morocco almost tarnished the image of the African cup of Nations, I don't think they almost did but they did tarnish the image of African football something that took so long to build.
How can you host the African cup of Nations and now feel entitled to lifting the title it does not even make any sense to me. The towel incidence with goal keepers still baffles me, I was also very disgusted to see Hakimi with so much exposure doing it, taking the goal keeper's towel and throwing it away.

CAF needs to take action because their are not accommodative, they feel entitled because they also have backings from the officials, we have seen how they cheat other teams to let them qualify to the quarterfinals and even the semifinals, so we can’t say anything rather than to be happy that CAF have seen what have done for themselves because I am very sure FIFA will react to this in the right manner.

I am impressed with the way the Senegalese coach reacted by commanding the players to leave the pitch after poor officiating, but I also appreciated how Sadio Mane encouraged them to come and stood on their feet, they made it and we are all happy because no other countries want Morocco to win because they will feel entitled.

[Iroh]

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.

It's crazy people would readily think a player would purposefully miss a penalty kick. Why would he intentionally miss a penalty kick in the finals of a huge tournament? It just doesn't make any sense. I can understand that people can get really emotional and then, in a bid to justify a disliked result, go on to formulate and throw around, some baseless theories and accusations. All without solid proof.
This is how some people on several social media platforms were speculating that Chukwueze of the super eagles knowingly missed that penalty kick that he took. It didn't make any sense then, it still doesn't make any sense now. People are just so emotional that the results gotten wasn't according to their expectations.

[Mr Reporter]

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.

See to me I’m very happy to see the super eagles in such position it was not a easy most country are even willing to pay to get to this position well feel this time we have to press hard the next season will eventually get there in no matter of time, well I don’t no if anyone noticed that this AFCON really brought out so many things like don’t understand that much but it just the simple truth…..well i just feel with time we might eventually get there see right now the super eagles are to be top as a big name in Africa country right now, we have really come a long way for this so now is the worng time to back down I think..

[Churchillvv]

Now you must know that the only problem Nigeria had was AKOR paying respect to a Pan Africanist leader who has lead the world to understand that Africa is not divided but one but however the controversy that came after that or the trend that came on social media lead Nigeria to be under a high tension from Morocco since it was declared a revenge for Algeria, Nigeria became the favourite for other African countries hence putting them on over expectations. So Morocco didn’t just come to play as usual but came to keep a reputation or obtain one as the people took Nigeria out. If that hadn’t happened I’m very sure Nigeria would have made it to winners.

This is the most retarded statement I have seen in this sub. How does a goal celebration affects the outcome of a football match.
Nigeria vs Morocco ended with a win to Morocco through a penalty shootout. Nigeria did scored but their goal was cancelled.
If Morocco had scored with an open play all through out the 120 minutes, it would be a different story. But they cored through penalties which is a game of luck.
Please don't have this discussion in a public place. It will sound somehow to the ears of people hearing you.

You must be an idiot for saying that! Do you realize Senegal had no trending movements in the AFCON until there wins? Imagine Senegal in the position on Nigeria having the trending strength just because one play paid respect to someone because they defeated the opposition who mocked the other opponent, even though the football goal celebrations are usually respects paid to people, this special respect paid to DR. Congo lead Nigeria to stay in the fear zone knowing that Morocco will become offensive in the game so they became defensive, and having over expectations on them just because they won Algeria most African countries began to cheer Nigeria and for someone who is brilliant enough you would understand what that means! But you seem to only follow people talking and never going outside the box to think. You should start using your brain better.

[Callido]

Honestly that was unprofessional. Morocco was desperate to lift the AFCON trophy by force just because they're the hosts and that's not proper. They did the same to Nigeria keeper Nwabali, poor officiating and took over the stadium by Moroccans so I wasn't surprised by their poor behaviour yesterday.

Being hosts doesn't give you priority or mean you must win by force you should respect other teams. Just do your best if it's meant to be yours, you'll win. I remember the previous AFCON in 2024 when Ivory Coast hosted they proved they deserved it by playing well. They didn't manipulate officiating like Morocco did.

It was truly something else, the whole of West Africans stood by Senegal in the final. Such terrible display by the Morocco side was truly a bad scene to witness, they could no longer conceal their targets for the AFCON trophy, through desperacy they fought to win it using crooks and finally it didn't work.

The behaviour we witnessed, is one that i would initially have to support other countries over an African country, because given the opportunity to cheat, they don't mind doing it to their own African brothers, manipulations in a broad day.

[Stepstowealth]

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.

It's crazy people would readily think a player would purposefully miss a penalty kick. Why would he intentionally miss a penalty kick in the finals of a huge tournament? It just doesn't make any sense. I can understand that people can get really emotional and then, in a bid to justify a disliked result, go on to formulate and throw around, some baseless theories and accusations. All without solid proof.

The manner in which Diaz missed the penalty was unbelievable, I guess that is why some people think for a certain that it was intentional.

In developing news, The football body in Morocco wants to take legal actions against Senegal for leaving the field in the finals, they believe it contributed to the poorly taken penalty kick from Diaz, the penalty kick some people still believe he missed on purpose.

https://nigerianbulletin.com/ams/morocco-to-pursue-legal-action-against-senegal-over-afcon-final-walk-off-protest.23473/

[MorganaX]

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.

It's crazy people would readily think a player would purposefully miss a penalty kick. Why would he intentionally miss a penalty kick in the finals of a huge tournament? It just doesn't make any sense. I can understand that people can get really emotional and then, in a bid to justify a disliked result, go on to formulate and throw around, some baseless theories and accusations. All without solid proof.

The manner in which Diaz missed the penalty was unbelievable, I guess that is why some people think for a certain that it was intentional.

In developing news, The football body in Morocco wants to take legal actions against Senegal for leaving the field in the finals, they believe it contributed to the poorly taken penalty kick from Diaz, the penalty kick some people still believe he missed on purpose.

https://nigerianbulletin.com/ams/morocco-to-pursue-legal-action-against-senegal-over-afcon-final-walk-off-protest.23473/

For me I will definitely say the kick was never international, as it was normally kicked by him and most times that is how it will end up, when a player feels he wants to try out new things on the pitch when it is never necessary to do such. They lost and I see no reason for them to drop any form of Allegations on Senegal for leaving the pitch. That is what you will get in a final when the ref is doing everything to favor one side.

[Donneski]

Morocco almost tarnished the image of the African cup of Nations, I don't think they almost did but they did tarnish the image of African football something that took so long to build.
How can you host the African cup of Nations and now feel entitled to lifting the title it does not even make any sense to me. The towel incidence with goal keepers still baffles me, I was also very disgusted to see Hakimi with so much exposure doing it, taking the goal keeper's towel and throwing it away.

The unsportsmanship from Morocco was very unnecessary. They were acting like they already had an agreement with CAF to win the tournament and must win regardless of how it happens. Ball boys were hostile to opposing team players and even taking away the hand towels of goalkeepers. Even after their defeat yesterday, Moroccan media personnels walked out of the press room when Senegal nation coach was about to be interviewed and that disrupted the process.
It's a big shame and I'm looking forward to how CAF will react to the situation because they actually need to be sanctioned.