Thousands of fans were expected to line the streets in the Senegalese capital Dakar on Monday night to greet the return of the national football team that claimed the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations following a 1-0 victory over Morocco.
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 at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.
Senegal’s players were furious with referee Jean-Jacques Ndala for ruling out Ismaila Sarr’s goal without checking the video assistant referees (VAR) and then awarding a penalty for a foul on the Morocco striker Brahim Diaz after consulting VAR.
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.
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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.
“Heroic!” read the headline on the front page of the Senegalese daily newspaper Le Soleil.
“From hell to heaven, the Lions went through every emotion at the end of a crazy scenario in the final,” it added.
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“Incredible victory,” said L’Observateur on its front page. The paper saluted Mané as the man who refused to let history defeat him.
“A victory of collective intelligence over the brutality of circumstances and the pressure of interests,” the newspaper said.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye declared a national holiday in the wake of the team’s second success at the Cup of Nations in four years.
Faye is expected to receive the players at the presidential palace before they return to their club sides to resume their respective championships.
But as the squad made its way to Senegal, executives at the Confederation of African Football (Caf), which organises the Cup of Nations, said they were 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.
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“We will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty.”
On Monday, Gianni Infantino, the boss of world football’s govrning body Fifa, added his disapproval. He said he wanted Caf to take what he described as appropriate measures.
“Sometimes you can react in the heat of the moment,” Thiaw told French television shortly before his post-match press conference was cancelled when fighting broke out among journalists.
“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.