OPINION – Senegal deserve AFCON title despite walkout madness

Total and utter chaos and a Senegal win. The end of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations saw the Teranga Lions lift the trophy for the second time in the last three editions.

Senegal’s well-deserved win

It was a deserved victory for Senegal and in particular their talisman Sadio Mane, who took on the role of peacemaker in persuading his teammates to return to the field and complete the final against Morocco in Rabat on Sunday.

Senegal had a right to feel deeply aggrieved in stoppage time when Morocco were awarded a soft penalty, just minutes after the Teranga Lions had seen a goal dubiously ruled out by DRC referee Jean Jacques Ndala.

Idiotic

But it was absolutely idiotic of the West African side to leave the field in protest. The move could easily have cost them the trophy. Fifa rules clearly state that if a team abandons the field of play, without the instruction of the referee, they forfeit the match.

The caveat is that Fifa cedes the final decision to the tournament organisers, in this case the Confederation of African Football.

In the end, after Mane’s apparent dramatic intervention, the game continued. Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer, had the chance to win the game for the host nation. The ‘Panenka’ penalty is always at risk of making you look a fool if the goalkeeper does not move.

And so it proved as Edouard Mendy scooped to pick up the ball with ease.

There were some social media accusations that Diaz had deliberately taken a poor penalty.

But this seems more than a little far fetched to suggest with regard to a professional footballer with a chance to win his country a first Africa Cup of Nations title in 50 years.

Serendipity

It was serendipitous that Mane played a part in Senegal’s winning goal in extra time, winning the ball in midfield, before Papa Gueye smashed in a sumptuous finish.

Senegal will probably be fined heavily for their actions in leaving the pitch, and rightly so. That kind of behaviour sets a very dangerous precedent.

But there is no doubt they are deserved winners of another AFCON.