Senegal win AFCON with 1-0 triumph over hosts Morocco – but victory is soured by a walk-off protest and off-the-pitch incidents

Senegal are Africa Cup of Nations champions after a highly-contentious 1-0 victory over tournament hosts Morocco on Sunday night in Rabat.

Pape Gueye was Senegal’s matchwinner with a stunning strike in extra-time, but that goal was overshadowed by chaotic events in normal time – which included the eventual winners walking off the pitch in protest at referee Jean-Jacques Ndala.

The first controversial incident in second-half stoppage time came when Senegal were denied a goal when Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr headed home.

Sarr thought he won it when he was the quickest to react off Abdoulaye Seck’s initial header which came back off the crossbar.

However, Ndala had already blown his whistle, awarding a very soft foul for contact between Seck and Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi.

That decision incensed Senegal and their mood worsened when Ndala awarded Morocco a soft penalty in the dying embers of stoppage time.

Ndala was advised by VAR to check a tug by West Ham defender El Hadji Malick Diouf on Brahim Diaz from a corner, with the Congolese deciding to award the spot kick.

This sparked scenes rarely seen before as Senegal’s fierce complaints then saw their whole squad storm on to the pitch – something that was matched by Morocco.

Senegal manager Pape Thiaw got into it with Morocco counterpart Walid Regragui before instructing his players to walk off the pitch, which they duly did.

Eventually, Diaz stepped up to take the kick, 17 minutes after it was awarded.

With the weight of the country on his shoulders, he inexplicably decided to try and chip the penalty down the middle of the goal – which Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy caught.

Brahim Diaz apologises

It is something that the Real Madrid playmaker will never forget and he has subsequently apologised on social media for failing to end his country’s 50-year wait to rule Africa once more.

‘My soul hurts,’ the 26-year-old wrote on social media on Monday. ‘I dreamed of this title thanks to all the love you have given me, every message, every show of support that made me feel I was not alone. I fought with everything I had, with my heart above all else.

‘Yesterday I failed, and I take full responsibility and apologise wholeheartedly. It will be difficult for me to recover, because this wound does not heal easily, but I will try. 

‘Not for myself, but for all those who believed in me and for all those who suffered with me.

‘I will keep going until one day I can give you all this love back and be the pride of my Moroccan people.’