Senegal ka dramatic junoon AFCON final mai : have against injustice, geu ay match winner Gueye.
Frustrated because earlier in the game, a legitimate goal was disallowed, but one must take things as they come. We keep apologizing.
Senegal's midfielder Pape Gueye reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) final football match between Senegal and Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on January 18, 2026. Photo/Courtesy
By Ruth Sang
According to match winner Pape Gueye, whose extra time goal sealed a narrow 1-0 victory and handed the trophy to the Lions of Teranga, the dramatic triumph by Senegal was accompanied by a feeling of grievous injustice in the AFCON final.
According to Gueye, late on, the team got motivation from a series of controversial decisions during the final moments, which derailed their title hopes and also caused chaotic scurrying both on and off the pitch. It became even more intense through the match which, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, went into deep stoppage time at the end of normal time without having posted any goals before Morocco faced a penalty after a VAR check regarding an apparently innocuous-tackled Brahim Diaz.
Only a few moments before this occurrence during the above-mentioned stoppage time, a goal from Senegal was ruled out for what players and officials thought to be an extremely soft foul. Frustration erupted instantly within the Senegal team, with some players angry about the penalty award and leaving the pitch for a short while in protest, feeling that they had been treated unequally by the match officials.
Meanwhile, from the rest of those supporting Senegal in the stadium, sections attempted to enter the field of play, poolodging themselves much more into trouble with security. This forced a break in the match for almost 20 minutes before things were normalized to allow the penalty to be taken. After doing that, action resumed, where Diaz would step up and shoot the penalty, but it was poorly struck and saved well by Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, a moment which turned out to be a crucial one in the final.
“But the reality is that we’ve just become angry at the chaos because Sadio was good in helping calm the team and bringing us back down to touch, focus, everything again, so Gueye, as many probably know, plays his club football with Villarreal. “We really had that feeling of injustice,” said Gueye, who plays club football with Villarreal. “We thought we had a very valid goal before the penalty, but the referee never even called VAR. Emotions were hot, but Sadio told us to come back, regroup, and stay focused.”
So, the focus exemplified early in the extra time when Gueye unleashed a stunning strike in the fourth minute of that period to break the deadlock and endow Senegal with a decisive lead. Eventually, the goal sealed victory and brought Senegal their second Africa Cup of Nations title.
Later on, the coach of Senegal, Pape Thiaw, did admit that he had initially told players to leave the pitch out of protest to that spot-kick, but this was later established as a mistake enacted in the heat of the moment, according to the French broadcaster beIN Sports. Thiaw would apologize for his actions, admitting that wrong decisions are usually made by referees.
After a while, I realized that I should not have ordered the much-peeved players off. Frustrated because earlier in the game, a legitimate goal was disallowed, but one must take things as they come. We keep apologizing.
The victory was Senegal’s second AFCON title, four years later after their first title, won in Cameroon when they beat Egypt on penalties. Senegal also won the runners-up finishes two times, and curiously, Gueye’s shot was the very first goal for the nation during all four AFCON finals appearances.
“It makes it special because of the challenges we went through as a squad, including the late withdrawal of three key players for the final due to late issues, “Gueye said. “We are really happy and proud,” he said. “Despite everything that happened, we made the choice to return to the pitch, give everything we had, and in the end, we achieved what we set out to do.”
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