Morocco and Senegal are set for a high-stake final at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, with victory crucial to annexing the covetous trophy in the North African country on Sunday, January 18, 2026.
The match, scheduled to take place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat promises to be an exciting encounter, with both teams seeking for the ultimate title. Morocco are chasing their second AFCON title just as Senegal, who last won the trophy in 2021 in Cameroon.
Morocco, one of the standout teams at the tournament made a strong start to the continental showpiece on home soil, defeating Comoros and Zambia, while sharing the spoils with Mali in the group stage. Their outstanding performance earned them the top spot, setting up a tie against Tanzania in the last 16, where Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz powered the Atlas Lions to the quarterfinals with his strike.
In the quarterfinals, Walid Regragui and his charges triumphed over Cameroon with a 2-0 victory to secure a place in the semi-finals, where the North African side defeated Nigeria 4-2 on penalties after a pulsating goalless draw in both regular and extra-time.
This marks their third AFCON final appearance after 1976 and 2004. Morocco won the title in their first final appearance before losing second attempt in 2004. The upcoming clash against Senegal is their third final appearance.
This is the ninth AFCON final between teams from West and North Africa. In the previous eight meetings, West African teams have triumphed four times and North African teams four times.
This is the fifth time a West African team has faced a North African host in the final. On two occasions, the West African team won—Ghana over Tunisia in 1965 and Ghana over Libya in 1982. The other two finals saw the North African hosts triumph: Algeria over Nigeria in 1990 and Egypt over Côte d’Ivoire on penalties in 2006.
Senegal are facing the host nation in an AFCON final for the first time in their history and will be hoping to annex the title.
The last three host nations to reach the final have won the tournament: Tunisia in 2004, Egypt in 2006 and Côte d’Ivoire in 2023.
The host nation has reached the final in successive editions for the first time since 2004 and 2006, when Tunisia and Egypt both reached the final and won the tournament.
The last host nation to lose in the final was Nigeria in 2000, losing on penalties to Cameroon after a 2-2 draw.
Meanwhile, victory for Morocco would see host nations win back-to-back AFCON titles for the first time since 2004 and 2006, when Tunisia and Egypt were champions.
Road to the final:
Group Stage: Morocco won 2-0 against Comoros and drew 1-1 with Mali.
Round of 16: Morocco 1-0 Tanzania 1-0
Quarterfinals: Morocco 2-0 Cameroon
Semifinals: Morocco 0-0 Nigeria (4-2 on penalties for Morocco)
