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

[Churchillvv]

We should leave the U.S out of the decision of Iran to pull out of the world cup, situations beyond their control made them to take this present decision. I ran was willing to participate in the world cup that is why they invested their time resources and strength in playing the Qualifiers. But going by this present situation that Iran finds itself it's only wise that they stay away from the competition this is because, Iran is been attacked directly by the united states the same country that the world cup is going to be taking place. I don't expect FIFA to place any sanctions on Iran in this case because this situation is perculier in nature and is not delebrate in the part of Iran.

There are several agendas that might play out if Iran continues to participate in the World Cup which of course is one thing the US will be looking forward to using it as a tool to fight them more but however since they are on the defense side it’s better to stay away from the World Cup, and Iran having strict laws and penalties for disrespecting their laws, standing or bowing for US anthem is going to be a very big commotion. That part I’m not ready to see.

[Mindyspace]

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has confirmed that FIFA has rejected their petition against the Democratic Republic of Congo.

This was confirmed by the NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, on Tuesday.

Sanusi, however, insisted they were not satisfied with the verdict and will begin the process of appealing it.

https://dailypost.ng/2026/03/17/2026-world-cup-fifa-officially-rejects-super-eagles-petition-against-dr-congo/

Would this be the end of the road for Nigeria's dream of featuring in the World Cup? The Nigerian Football Federation believes it is not the end of the road. They believe they have valid evidence that will result in a favorable judgment. So they are moving to the next stage of appealing the verdict.

I don't think anything good will come out of this appeal after the verdict by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee. Let's start preparing early for the next competition.

I also find it difficult to change after this FIFA decision, especially coming from the disciplinary committee. Normally, these appeals processes don't tend to have many twists and turns.

But at the same time, I understand the Nigerian Football Federation's position. If they believe they have strong evidence, it makes sense to try until the end.

In the end, I think it's good to start preparing for the worst-case scenario, but without completely ruling out the chance of a surprise in the appeal.

[MorganaX]

We should leave the U.S out of the decision of Iran to pull out of the world cup, situations beyond their control made them to take this present decision. I ran was willing to participate in the world cup that is why they invested their time resources and strength in playing the Qualifiers. But going by this present situation that Iran finds itself it's only wise that they stay away from the competition this is because, Iran is been attacked directly by the united states the same country that the world cup is going to be taking place. I don't expect FIFA to place any sanctions on Iran in this case because this situation is perculier in nature and is not delebrate in the part of Iran.

There are several agendas that might play out if Iran continues to participate in the World Cup which of course is one thing the US will be looking forward to using it as a tool to fight them more but however since they are on the defense side it’s better to stay away from the World Cup, and Iran having strict laws and penalties for disrespecting their laws, standing or bowing for US anthem is going to be a very big commotion. That part I’m not ready to see.

The whole is changing and so many things that I never thought would happen is actually happening and it's just so sad, I mean imagine a team having to forfeit their place in the world cup just because of the war that is going on between the host nation and them, FIFA which is the football body can't actually do anything about it and this makes the football game for me bad because there things are not supposed to cross to the part of sports, I mean there should be atleast laws covering them.

[uche6215]

We should leave the U.S out of the decision of Iran to pull out of the world cup, situations beyond their control made them to take this present decision. I ran was willing to participate in the world cup that is why they invested their time resources and strength in playing the Qualifiers. But going by this present situation that Iran finds itself it's only wise that they stay away from the competition this is because, Iran is been attacked directly by the united states the same country that the world cup is going to be taking place. I don't expect FIFA to place any sanctions on Iran in this case because this situation is perculier in nature and is not delebrate in the part of Iran.

There are several agendas that might play out if Iran continues to participate in the World Cup which of course is one thing the US will be looking forward to using it as a tool to fight them more but however since they are on the defense side it’s better to stay away from the World Cup, and Iran having strict laws and penalties for disrespecting their laws, standing or bowing for US anthem is going to be a very big commotion. That part I’m not ready to see.

The whole is changing and so many things that I never thought would happen is actually happening and it's just so sad, I mean imagine a team having to forfeit their place in the world cup just because of the war that is going on between the host nation and them, FIFA which is the football body can't actually do anything about it and this makes the football game for me bad because there things are not supposed to cross to the part of sports, I mean there should be atleast laws covering them.

I don't know why NFF is dragging this to this extent. They would have played well to qualify and not all these dramas they are doing in the football association. FIFA Sanctions the two countries and now, NFF has gone to appeal the case again. Is it that Wike is supporting this people? This NFF should allow Dr Congo to go to the world cup in peace. And Nigeria should prepare themselves in the next one and in the Nation cup that is coming next year. Abah!! I am tired of this guys.

[Slow death]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

[Upgrade00]

This is an absurd decision from CAF. Players and fans alike had moved on from that event, it makes no sense to still be deliberating on that and I cannot wrap my head around why they will reach such a decision. There have been multiple cases of players walking off the pitch in the modern game, mostly due to racism accusations. They always returned to the pitch and never have the match been declared to have been forfeited.

I'll expect a trophy parade from Morocco during the next international break to give some legitimacy to the trophy they were just awarded.

[Rruchi man]

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

Since Morocco wants the trophy so bad, they can have it, but they will never have the respect of the spectators like us who watched the injustice and corruption that went on in the field. I think this final will be a final that will be forever referenced in the history of football.

Since rules are being followed, are we going to see the case Nigeria has against DR Congo for fielding an ineligible player get attention? Can the decision on it already be overturned? Or does lobbying need to be done too?

[Tonimez]

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

Since Morocco wants the trophy so bad, they can have it, but they will never have the respect of the spectators like us who watched the injustice and corruption that went on in the field. I think this final will be a final that will be forever referenced in the history of football.

Since rules are being followed, are we going to see the case Nigeria has against DR Congo for fielding an ineligible player get attention? Can the decision on it already be overturned? Or does lobbying need to be done too?

Everything about Africa is becoming so corrupt, the system is bad and every leader is corrupt in his own way. Morocco has taken this corruption thing to the extreme. All through the tournament, their desperation override the spirit of sportsmanship. How did we arrive at this? Well, maybe they will fly to Senegal to pick the trophy and return to their place.

Morocco may be on paper as the winners but the entire world knows who owns the AFCON 2025. I have never seen a nation as desperate as Morocco when it comes to this title race. Fans all over the world will now have reason to mock the African football. Let's watch and see if Nigeria Vs Congo will also get overturned, haha. What a news!

[IceLincoln]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

This is funny, insulting and very embarrassing. A tournament that was supposed to be a fair game was turned into a political affair plagued with very poor officiating and visible misconducts and injustice.
If this is the way Morocco wants to have their name written in the history books then it’s fine… they can be winners on paper but we all truly know who the winner is and who deserves our respect.
They Hosted a tournament and ruined it for everyone, it’s just a shame CAF decided to do this whether rule or not.

[Slow death]

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

Since Morocco wants the trophy so bad, they can have it, but they will never have the respect of the spectators like us who watched the injustice and corruption that went on in the field. I think this final will be a final that will be forever referenced in the history of football.

Since rules are being followed, are we going to see the case Nigeria has against DR Congo for fielding an ineligible player get attention? Can the decision on it already be overturned? Or does lobbying need to be done too?

In the case of Nigeria, FIFA rejected it, so there's nothing more the Nigerian federation can do. I'm very ashamed to see how these corrupt Africans are destroying our continent. Here in my country, Mozambique, last week my government arrested 42 Nigerian businessmen and is preventing them from accessing lawyers. The president of Nigeria has already asked my government to release these people.

But unfortunately, my country's corrupt government is doing dirty things to keep them imprisoned. They are innocent Nigerians, people who came to my country to do honest business. I apologize to all the people of Nigeria; my country's government is corrupt and immoral. This is the same as what we are seeing in CAF; corruption dominates this organization, and unfortunately, this will not change anytime soon.

[Jegileman]

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

This news came as a shocker to me after seeing it few minutes ago. This is what we call daylight robbery. It really sounds funny and I don’t think many African countries will find this very appealing to them but they will not rate the AFCON as a reputable competition to participate in again in the future. They clearly won the match on the field, and I think they deserve the win. The game was being officiated in favour of Morocco but they still won at the end which I think is what they never expected. This is not right about CAF, this judgement is unacceptable and unjust.

[Spaceman1000$]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

The kind of politics that will play in Africa is detrimental to our progress and that is why some nation's just see us as a joke, if that there were mistakes that were made during the final match between Morocco and Senegal and at the end of the day Senegal won the game, it is better you leave the result like that, because obviously by fair play Senegal won that game. I remember the story of how Diego maradonal used his hands to score a goal and later call it hand of God and afterwards Argentina won the World Cup, FIFA did not go back to cancel those goals and give it to their opponent, FIFA just allowed it an owned up to their mistake and making sure that it doesn't repeat next time, I wonder were CAF is learning all of this.  

Seeing the case between DRC and Nigeria FIFA in its wisdom understood that they had made a mistake, but you cannot correct that sort of a mistake immediately, so they allowed. it but I believe if it was CAF, they would have awarded it to Nigeria while cancelling DRC. Mistakes has been made, as a body you own up to it and correct it in the next competition.

[Cyber_warrior]

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

This news came as a shocker to me after seeing it few minutes ago. This is what we call daylight robbery. It really sounds funny and I don’t think many African countries will find this very appealing to them but they will not rate the AFCON as a reputable competition to participate in again in the future. They clearly won the match on the field, and I think they deserve the win. The game was being officiated in favour of Morocco but they still won at the end which I think is what they never expected. This is not right about CAF, this judgement is unacceptable and unjust.

I can't believe my eyes at all after seeing that news. African football is a joke, they are making football look ridiculous. This past AFCON is just full of dramas and I think it is the most dramatic AFCON I have witnessed. I don't know where this all is coming from but I don't think people will take the competition seriously anymore.

They are striping Senegal of the trophy for leaving the pitch during an ongoing game, that's funny. They should have forfeited the game when it happened but they went on with it as if it was okay. Or is CAF not aware of the rules before? Maybe they forget the rules and we're reminded months after the competition LMAO.

AFCON and CAF will all lose their credibility because this is unjust. We all saw how similar thing happened with Manchester United when all the players left the pitch already and we're called back to take a penalty and nothing happened. The punishment and fine was okay but this No it not okay.

[Agbamoni]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

We, African football lovers, are trying to heal from the incident that happened in the AFCON final, and CAF is doing the opposite. CAF wants to add more salt to the injury, the trauma of how the AFCON ended.

I am very disappointed with the news. Senegal deserves the trophy. This will be a big blow to African football. What will Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes do? And those racist pundits now say about this news.

[snipie]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful
...
Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF.
...
I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

I thought I was the first one to see the news but you were fast to report it.
The victory of Senegal is undoubtful. CAF leaning towards Morocco and favouring it in everything is obvious from years and there is a strong Moroccan guy within CAF top stuff that has his influence.
The only reason I believe that CAF stands for is to prevent the incident done by the coach of Senegal to be repeated in the future which will ruin what left from the sad football competitions in Africa. Other than that, yeah there is a political decision, there is corruption and it is up to Senegal to accept the judgement or to appeal to the court of arbitration and wait for the final decision from FIFA which is their ultimate hope.

[MainIbem]

I can't believe my eyes at all after seeing that news. African football is a joke, they are making football look ridiculous. This past AFCON is just full of dramas and I think it is the most dramatic AFCON I have witnessed. I don't know where this all is coming from but I don't think people will take the competition seriously anymore.

They are striping Senegal of the trophy for leaving the pitch during an ongoing game, that's funny. They should have forfeited the game when it happened but they went on with it as if it was okay. Or is CAF not aware of the rules before? Maybe they forget the rules and we're reminded months after the competition LMAO.

AFCON and CAF will all lose their credibility because this is unjust. We all saw how similar thing happened with Manchester United when all the players left the pitch already and we're called back to take a penalty and nothing happened. The punishment and fine was okay but this No it not okay.

They've just ruined the competition. They forgot the world watched Senegal lift the trophy and the players given medals before they were handed over the trophy, the can do whatever they like politically but we all know who the true winner is. Morocco can go ahead to win on paper but Senegal is the true deserving winner of the recent AFCON tournament. Well the deed has been done and they've succeeded in being unjust to satisfy Morocco which they’ve really wanted all through the tournament, but do you know what they can't do? They can't take away the image of Senegal lifting the trophy from our mind. AFCON and CAF are the biggest joke of the year.

[7juju]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

We, African football lovers, are trying to heal from the incident that happened in the AFCON final, and CAF is doing the opposite. CAF wants to add more salt to the injury, the trauma of how the AFCON ended.

I am very disappointed with the news. Senegal deserves the trophy. This will be a big blow to African football. What will Jamie Carragher and Paul Scholes do? And those racist pundits now say about this news.

Very disgraceful news, I share same opinion as you, CAF should have just let things be the way they are and not make a mess of themselves and the continent football this way. If they were going to quote any rule, why didn't they effect it on the day of the final when Senegal won the cup. They would have just ended the match the moment Senegal walked off the field, it would have been better, because the rules were already there. Coming back to quote rules when you already declared Senegal winners don't sit well with me. This is the most embarrassing news I have heard for a long time now. I feel so ashamed talking about this.

[Adbitco]

I don't even understand what's happening in this continent, everything about us just seems so different. Another team played, won and lifted the trophy, few months later the continents football body comes to tell us that they have overturned the result of the final we all watched and has now declared the team we all saw lose the final the winner of the same tournament we all saw them lose. Well to most of us, that's their business, the only champion we all recognise is the win who lifted the trophy and took it home after the match, that's the real champion. CAF can go on and start declaring every team that participated as champions but we all know that it's Senegal that won the trophy and they won our hearts as simple as ABC.

[Ale88]

It's unbelievable how we Africans managed to destroy everything. Look at this very sad and shameful news:

The CAF Appeal Board decided that in application of Article 84 of the Regulations of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final Match of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 (“the Match”), with the result of the Match being recorded as 3–0 in favour of the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Football (FRMF).

source: https://x.com/CAF_Media/status/2034021397132153218

Senegal won the game on the field, but Morocco won politically, and as a result, they were declared champions by CAF. Honestly, this is a great shame for football. As long as our African politicians believe that when they organize a competition they must win because they spent money to organize it, we won't go far, we won't win the World Cup this way. Politics and corruption are the greatest evils in African sport.

With this decision, other nations, when organizing the AFCON, will use all sorts of dirty methods to become champions, even if they have to buy off all the CAF officials. I wonder who will trust and play well in the AFCON in the coming years knowing that the winner will be decided in the office and not on the field?

I just read the news on social media, I actually thought it was a fake news or some kind of prank and no, it's real. This is something unbelievable, I've never anything like that in my life. Removing a continental trophy after two months following political pressure is just wild. The message is now clear: host the competition, pay good money, and somehow the cup will be yours, no matter how. What a shame.

[GxSTxV]

I guess the news of tonight spread really fast, myself thought it was a joke when my friend told me about it, Morocco is announced as the winner of AFCON of 2025/2026 even after months when Senegal won in the field, the African federation decided that it wasn’t a legitimate win after Senegal’s players quit the pitch before the end of that match.
I cannot judge anything here, if the rules are broken by anyone then the other side has all the rights to complain as well and get his rights. We are very unfamiliar with giving a win to the lost team after everything is settled in the match.

Honestly, the Moroccans fans and players won’t enjoy or feel much happier for this after months of thinking and believing they have lost. Senegal in the other side might quit or stop playing any further competition. One thing I am curious about is what if there’s a chance to gamble that this will happen, can you guess the odds of this event?