The Makhzen regime in Morocco is leading a fierce campaign against the Senegalese national team after the latter won the title of the 35th edition of the African Cup of Nations at the expense of the organizing country’s national team.
The Moroccan media moved to distort the image of the Teranga Lions and belittle their achievement, despite the clear superiority of Sadio Mane’s teammates throughout the final match, which extended into two extra periods (120 minutes).
Fingers were pointed at Senegalese national team coach Pape Thiaw, after he protested against the decision of Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala, who announced a penalty kick for Morocco in the last minutes of regular time.
The Moroccan Federation filed a grievance with the African Confederation and the International Federation in order to punish the Senegalese technical director.
Thiaw called on his players to withdraw from the field, thus expressing the injustice he was subjected to by the refereeing team, which canceled a goal scored by his team without respecting FIFA regulations regarding video technology.
Ndala fouled the Senegalese player before completing the shot that ended with a goal, which violates the “VAR protocol,” according to what arbitration experts confirmed after the match.
Senegal’s goal disallowed 🚨🚨🚨🚨#Morocco_Senegal pic.twitter.com/FEv7wFUIcN
– Ha🏆🥈 (@IMALON2021) January 18, 2026
The final confrontation resumed later, and the miracle happened when Moroccan Ibrahim Diaz missed the penalty kick, while the Senegal national team responded with a fatal goal scored by Pape Gueye in the fourth minute of the first extra period.
Senegal’s first goal 🤯!#Morocco #Africa_Cup of Nations pic.twitter.com/Yjp5yblbjx
— Charisma | Abu Shalash 🇸🇦 (@kwi92) January 18, 2026
The Gabonese CAF appointed Pierre-Ghislain Acho to supervise the video technology in this match, despite the mistakes he made in previous confrontations, most notably the match between Algeria and Nigeria.
In the Ivory Coast 2023 tournament, the continental body punished Acho after causing Senegal to be eliminated in front of the home team in the final match. By withdrawing him from managing the competition’s matches.
A similar scene was experienced by Moroccans in Paris
The Moroccan Olympic team was exposed to a similar situation in the football tournament for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, when it faced Argentina in the opening match.
The Atlas Lions then advanced with the participation of their star Achraf Hakimi, captain of the national team in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals. The score was two goals to one until the 105th minute.
Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg added an additional 15 minutes, which was enough for Albiceleste to equalize.
Christian Medina’s goal caused complete chaos at the Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium in Saint-Etienne.
Moroccan supporters stormed the field and threw firecrackers at the bench of the Argentine national team, which was then led by Javier Masecrano.
The Moroccan national team, which was coached by Tariq Skitiwi, protested against the opponent’s goal, which was later found to be illegal due to the scorer being in an offside position.
The match was stopped for two hours before resuming for an additional five minutes, where referee Glenn Nyberg reviewed the video technology and canceled the goal.
Morocco ended the confrontation victorious and then continued the journey by winning the bronze medal after winning against Egypt in the ranking match with a score of 6-0.
How can the Moroccan side blame its Senegalese counterparts after they objected to arbitrary arbitration decisions at a time when they protested in the same way during the 2024 Paris Olympics?
#Morocco #Argentina #Protest #withdrawal #fans #storming #field
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