The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final will see host nation Morocco face Senegal on Sunday, 18 January, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. Kick-off is scheduled for 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT).
The clash promises a historic encounter, with both sides bringing rich continental pedigrees and a long-standing rivalry into focus.
Teams’ paths to the final
Senegal have played all their matches in Tangier leading up to the final, while Morocco will be playing their seventh game in Rabat, giving them a strong home advantage.
This will be Senegal’s third AFCON final and their first since 2019, while Morocco contest their second final and first since 2004. Morocco’s only AFCON title came in 1976, when the final stage was conducted in a round-robin format without a single final.
Historical context and AFCON host records
Morocco becomes the 15th host nation to reach an AFCON final. Historically, host nations have enjoyed strong performances, winning 12 of the 32 tournaments.
The last three hosts to reach the final – Tunisia in 2004, Egypt in 2006, and Côte d’Ivoire in 2023 – went on to lift the trophy. The last host to lose a final was Nigeria in 2000, defeated on penalties by Cameroon.
Of the 12 host nation AFCON titles, 10 were won in open play and two on penalties. Hosts have participated in penalty shootouts four times, winning twice (Egypt in 1986 and 2006) and losing twice (Libya in 1982 and Nigeria in 2000). The only host to lose an AFCON final in open play was Tunisia in 1965 after extra time.
West vs North Africa in AFCON finals
This is the ninth AFCON final between West and North African teams. Historically, the record is evenly split, with West Africa winning four and North Africa four.
This will mark the fifth time a West African team has faced a North African host in a final. Senegal, making their third final appearance, will face a North African team for the third time, having lost to Algeria in 2019 and defeated Egypt in 2021. This will be the first time Senegal faces a host nation in the final.
Scoring patterns and historical trends
Across 32 AFCON finals, the most common scorelines are 1-0 (eight times) and 0-0 (seven times). Nine finals have been decided on penalties, with the last five ending 0-0 after extra time before shootouts.
Twelve finals required extra time, while the largest AFCON final victory remains Egypt’s 4-0 win over Ethiopia in 1957.
Sunday’s clash between Morocco and Senegal promises to be a tightly contested encounter, blending historical rivalry, host nation advantage, and a statistical backdrop that has often favored the hosts.
The match will not only crown a champion but could also see Morocco become the first host to claim back-to-back titles since Tunisia in 2004 and Egypt in 2006.
HEAD-TO-HEAD (OVERALL)
Senegal: P31 W6 D7 L18 GF18 GA41 GD23
Morocco: P31 W18 D7 L6 GF41 GA18 GD23
Senegal – Key Statistics
- Have reached this stage with five wins from their six games, winning their group matches against Botswana and Benin, and defeating Sudan, Mali and Egypt in the knockout rounds.• Have only failed to win once, drawing 1-1 against DR Congo in the group stages.
• Are featuring in their fourth AFCON final.
• Previous appearances in the final were in 2002, 2019 and 2021.
• This is their second final in North Africa, after Egypt 2019.
• Have featured in finals in Central, West and North Africa.
• Have had two finals finish 0-0 and be decided on penalties after extra time, losing to Cameroon in 2002 by 3-2 in the shoot-out.
• Their most recent final in 2021 against Egypt also ended 0-0 before they triumphed 4-2 on penalties.
• Their only final decided in 90 minutes saw them lose 1-0 to Algeria in 2019, with Baghdad Bounedjah scoring after two minutes.
• Only one goal has been scored in their previous three finals.
• Only one other team’s first three AFCON finals produced fewer goals: Côte d’Ivoire’s first three finals in 1992, 2006 and 2012 all ended 0-0 and were decided on penalties, as did the Elephants’ fourth final in 2015.
• They lost their first two finals in 2002 and 2019 before winning in 2021, and are one of three countries to have lost their first two finals and won their third, along with Sudan and Zambia.
• Pape Thiaw is the second Senegalese coach to lead his country to an AFCON final, following Bruno Metsu in 2002 and Aliou Cissé in 2019 and 2021.
• Victory would mean both of Senegal’s AFCON titles have come under Senegalese coaches.
• They have kept four clean sheets at the current edition and would equal their best run of five in a single tournament if they do so in this match, having achieved five in 2002, 2019 and 2021.
• Have won five games at the current edition, their joint-highest total alongside 2019 (five).
• Victory would see them win six games at a single AFCON edition for the first time.
• Have won four successive AFCON matches for the first time since 2019.
• They have won three successive knockout games for a third time at AFCON, also doing so when reaching the finals in 2019 and 2021.
• Victory would see them win four knockout games for the first time.
• Victory would also see them become the first team to win four successive knockout games at AFCON.
• They have scored in all six of their matches, the first time they have done so at an AFCON.
• The 12 goals they have scored at the current tournament is the most they have netted at a single edition.
• They have now scored in their last 10 AFCON matches, last failing to score in the 2021 final against Egypt.
• Are undefeated in their last 17 AFCON matches since losing the 2019 final (W12 D5).
• Are now eight knockout-stage matches unbeaten, with their last defeat coming against Algeria in the 2019 final (W6 D2).
• They have kept 11 clean sheets in their last 17 AFCON matches.
• Their loss to Algeria in the 2019 final is their only defeat in their last 22 AFCON matches (W16 D5).
• In their last 22 AFCON matches, they have kept 15 clean sheets.
• Have not conceded more than one goal in a match since a 2-2 draw against Algeria in their final group game in 2017.
• Edouard Mendy has kept four clean sheets at the current edition and recorded his 10th AFCON clean sheet against Egypt.
• Four clean sheets is the most Mendy has kept in a single edition, having kept three in 2021.
• Mendy is the first Senegalese goalkeeper since Alfred Gomis in 2019 to keep four clean sheets in a single edition.
• They have conceded just two goals at the current edition. In 2002, when reaching the final, they conceded one goal while playing five matches, and in 2019 they also conceded a single goal in six matches en route to the final.
• This is the fifth successive edition in which they have not conceded more than two goals, last conceding more in 2015, when they conceded four.
• Kalidou Koulibaly misses the match through suspension, his second suspension of the current tournament after a red card in the group stages.
• Koulibaly misses an AFCON final through suspension for the second time, having also missed the 2019 final.
• They will also be without Habib Diarra, who is suspended for the match.
• Sadio Mané scored Senegal’s only goal against Egypt, his 11th AFCON goal.
• Mané scored in an AFCON semi-final for the second time.
• Four of Mané’s AFCON goals have come in knockout matches.
• Mané has taken his total AFCON goal involvements to 20, with 11 goals and nine assists.
• Mané’s goal against Egypt was Senegal’s 99th AFCON goal.
• Mané is the ninth player in AFCON history to score 10 or more goals, after Samuel Eto’o (18), Laurent Pokou (14), Rashidi Yekini (13), Hassan El-Shazly (12), Patrick M’Boma (11), Mohamed Salah (11), Hossam Hassan (11) and Didier Drogba (11).
• Mané’s goal against Egypt was the first AFCON semi-final goal scored from outside the penalty area since Riyad Mahrez for Algeria against Nigeria in 2019.
• Senegal coach Pape Thiaw leads Senegal into his second CAF final, having been in charge when they defeated hosts Algeria in the final of the 2022 CHAN.
• Had 63.4% possession against Egypt.
• Completed 468 passes against Egypt from 534 attempted.
• Krépin Diatta had 104 touches against Egypt.
• Diatta completed 71 passes against Egypt, the most in the match.
• El Hadji Malick Diouf made a match-high 10 clearances against Egypt, more than the entire Egyptian team combined (seven).
• Mané has created 18 chances, the most in the tournament.
Morocco – Key Statistics
- Will be playing their seventh match, the most they have played at a single AFCON edition.
• When crowned champions in 1976 and finishing runners-up in 2004, they played six matches in each tournament.
• They have won four matches at the current edition, their joint-highest total alongside 1976 and 2004.
• Are featuring in their second AFCON final and first since 2004.
• In 1976, when they won the title, there was no final, with the tournament played over two group stages.
• In their only previous direct final in 2004, they faced hosts Tunisia and lost 2-1. Tunisia led after five minutes through Francileudo Dos Santos, Youssef Mokhtari equalised in the 38th minute, and Ziad Jaziri scored the winner in the 52nd minute.
• In 1976, their decisive match was the final game of the second group stage against Guinea. They trailed 1-0 after Cherif Souleymane scored in the 33rd minute, before Ahmed Makrouh equalised in the 86th minute to ensure Morocco finished top of the group with five points, one ahead of Guinea.
• Walid Regragui is the second Moroccan coach to lead the Atlas Lions to an AFCON final, following Ezzaki Badou, who finished runner-up in 2004.
• Victory would see Regragui join Romanian coach Virgil Mărdărescu, who led Morocco to the title in 1976, as the only coaches to guide them to AFCON glory.
• Morocco clinched their last AFCON title with a 1-1 draw against Guinea in the second group stage on 14 March 1976, 49 years, 10 months and five days ago.
• It has been 18,208 days since Morocco were last crowned AFCON champions.
• At the current finals, they have already played two West African teams and have failed to win in open play, drawing with Mali in the group stages and winning on penalties in the semi-finals.
• Have won just one of their last four matches against West African teams, a group-stage win over Ghana in 2021 (D3).
• Their last two AFCON knockout matches against West African teams—Nigeria at the current edition and Benin in the 2021 Round of 16—have been decided on penalties. They defeated Nigeria and lost to Benin.
• Their last knockout-stage win over a West African team came against Mali in the 2004 semi-finals, a 4-0 victory.
• In AFCON knockout matches against West African teams, Morocco’s record reads P5 W1 D2 L1.
• Two of their knockout matches against West African teams have gone to penalties: defeats to Benin in 2021 and victory over Nigeria at the current edition. They also lost the third-place play-off against Côte d’Ivoire 3-2 in 1986 and the 1980 final against Nigeria 1-0.
• Their only knockout-stage win over a West African team was the 4-0 semi-final victory over Mali in 2004.
• Their penalty shoot-out win over Nigeria in the semi-finals was Regragui’s second as coach in a major tournament, having also won on penalties against Spain in the Round of 16 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
• They have conceded one goal at the current edition, the fewest they have conceded after six matches at an AFCON.
• They have scored in five of their six matches, failing to score only in the semi-final win on penalties over Nigeria.
• Should they score in the final, it would be the third time they have netted in six matches at an AFCON, having also done so in 1976 and 2004.
• Have kept five clean sheets at the current AFCON, their most in a single edition.
• Have scored nine goals, having only previously scored more in 2004, when they netted 14.
• They have scored 96 AFCON goals and are four short of reaching 100.
• Yassine Bounou is the first Moroccan goalkeeper to keep five clean sheets at a single AFCON edition.
• Bounou has kept a total of 11 clean sheets at AFCON tournaments.
• Another clean sheet would see Bounou become the first goalkeeper to keep six clean sheets at a single AFCON.
• They have now gone 477 minutes without conceding a goal.
• Since the introduction of the Round of 16 in 2019, Morocco are the third team to reach an AFCON final after conceding just one goal in six matches, alongside Senegal in 2019 and Egypt in 2021.
• Brahim Díaz scored in each of Morocco’s first five matches but failed to score in their most recent game.
• A goal for Díaz would see him draw level with Ahmed Faras as Morocco’s joint top scorer at AFCON with six goals.
• A goal would also see Díaz become the second Moroccan, after Faras, to score in six matches at a single AFCON.
• Morocco have registered 87 shots at goal, the second most at the tournament, with only Senegal (94) recording more.
• They have had 32 shots on target, ranking third, with Senegal top on 47.
• Morocco have scored nine goals, with a shot conversion rate of 14%.
• Have attempted 2,937 passes, the third most at the tournament, with Senegal leading on 3,084.
• Díaz has recorded eight shots on target, the most of any Moroccan player.
• Achraf Hakimi has created 10 chances, the most by a Moroccan player.
• Nayef Aguerd has completed 395 passes, the most of any Moroccan player.
• They recorded five shots on target against Nigeria and faced just one shot.
• Neil El Aynaoui had three shots, the most by a Moroccan player against Nigeria.
• Noussair Mazraoui completed three successful dribbles and won 12 duels against Nigeria, the most by a Moroccan player in the match.
• Hakimi was fouled five times against Nigeria, more than any other player.
• Morocco are unbeaten in their last six AFCON matches, with their previous longest unbeaten run being eight matches across the 2019 and 2021 editions.
• Victory would see Morocco become the first team since Senegal to hold the CHAN and AFCON titles simultaneously. Senegal won AFCON 2021 and CHAN 2022.
• In total, Morocco have had three AFCON matches decided on penalties. They lost a third-place play-off against Algeria in 1988 and their Round of 16 match against Benin in 2019, both ending 1-1, before winning their first AFCON penalty shoot-out in the semi-final against Nigeria after a 0-0 draw.
