Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko led the welcome- home delegation in the capital Dakar on Tuesday morning for the football squad that claimed the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 victory over Morocco.
The politicians greeted the players and coaching staff before the team boarded a double-decker bus to present the trophy to fans gathered around the airport.
Later on Tuesday, they will go on a public parade of their prize through the streets of Dakar to cap off two days of celebrations throughout the country following the dramatic victory over the hosts at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat on Sunday night.
Pape Gueye’s scorcher into the top right hand corner of Yassine Bounou’s goal in the first minutes of extra-time decided a contest that descended into chaos in the closing stages of the regulation 90 minutes.
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Senegal’s players were furious with referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for ruling out Ismaila Sarr’s goal without checking with the video assistant referees (VAR) and then awarding a penalty for a foul on the Morocco striker Brahim Diaz after consulting the VAR.
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Senegal boss Pape Thiaw led his players off the pitch in protest before veteran striker Sadio Mané urged them back on to face down their perceived injustice.
Nearly 20 minutes after the infringement, Diaz stepped up for the spot kick.
But the Real Madrid striker botched his panenka – a chipped shot into the centre of the goal as the keeper dives to the right or left.
The victory took Senegal seven places up the Fifa world rankings to 12th while Morocco climbed to eighth.
But as Senegal fans basked in the glory of a second Cup of Nations title in four years, football authorities were weighing up sanctions on the team following their walkout.
Moroccan football federation bosses said in a statement on Monday that they would take legal action to ensure the Confederation of African Football, which organises the Cup of Nations, to rule on the protest.
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They said their lawyers would also urge world football’s governing body Fifa to look into the Senegalese action.
“This situation had a significant impact on the normal course of the match and on the players’ performance,” the Moroccan federation’s statement added.
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Caf said it was reviewing video footage of the incidents before and after the penalty was awarded.
“Caf condemns the unacceptable behaviour from some players and officials during the Cup of Nations final.
“We will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty.”
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Thiaw said sorry for his actions in a brief interview with French TV but was unable to expand on his behaviour when his official post-match press conference was cancelled after fighting broke out among journalists. “Sometimes you can react in the heat of the moment,” he said. “Now we accept that referees do make mistakes and we apologise.”
Morocco and Senegal will be in action at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Morocco will play in Group C against Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
Senegal will feature in Group I with France, Norway and a team that emerges from the intercontinental play-off in March.