Morocco awarded Afcon 2025 title after Caf overturn final result

Morocco has been officially crowned champions of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) overturned the original result of the final following Senegal’s controversial walk-off.

Senegal had initially secured a 1-0 victory in the 18 January final, with Pape Gueye scoring an extra-time winner after a dramatic conclusion to the match.

The game had been overshadowed by a tense incident in stoppage time, when Senegal’s players briefly refused to continue after Morocco were awarded a late penalty with the score still goalless.

Although play resumed after a 17-minute delay and Brahim Diaz saw his penalty saved, the fallout has now led to a major reversal.

In a statement, Caf confirmed that Senegal had forfeited the match due to a breach of competition regulations.

The governing body said

that having studied Morocco’s appeal, “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” and the result was “officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.
CAF added that Senegal’s conduct violated Article 82, which states that any team refusing to play or leaving the field without authorisation is considered to have lost. Article 84 further enforces a 3-0 defeat in such circumstances.
The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (RMFF) said in a statement that its appeal “was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.
“The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions,” the statement added.