- Two players will miss the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco due to suspension
- Sadio Mane helped Senegal knock out record champions Egypt, while Morocco beat Nigeria on penalties
- AFCON rules on yellow cards have caused a lot of debate, with players missing important games due to the accumulation of player positions
It is now confirmed; Senegal will face Morocco in the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, but not every player will be allowed to play in the match.
Source: Getty Images
The two nations, which are the highest-ranked African countries by FIFA, led the talks by booking their places after thrilling semi-final matches on Wednesday night.
How Senegal and Morocco qualified for the AFCON 2025 final
Senegal led the team in the Tanger game thanks to Sadio Mane’s goal in the 78th minute and broke Egypt’s small goal whose game plan surprised many.
Later, Morocco won it Nigeria with penalties after the match after both sides failed to find a winner in regular and extra time.
Yassine Bono was king again from the penalty spot, saving efforts from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi to send the Atlas Lions to their first final since 2004.
The result meant that Senegal and Morocco will meet for the first time in the final AFCONwith much at stake on both sides.
However, Teranga Lions will go into the game handicapped after two of their players were suspended for the match.
AFCON rules regarding the ban on yellow cards
CAF’s rules on yellow cards state that all bookings after the group stage will be cancelled, but reset, meaning that any player given two cards in the knockout round will be suspended for one game.
“Cautions received during the qualification phase of the matches should not be considered for the matches of the final competition. At the end of the first phase of the final competition (group matches), all cautions received will be canceled for the entire period of the competition. However, a player who has collected two yellow cards will face the penalty of suspension for one match.”
Who will miss the AFCON 2025 final between Senegal and Morocco?
The captain of Senegal, Kalidou Koulibaly, was the first player to be affected after being given a card in the 17th minute for fouling Omar Marmoush. Koulibaly was booked against Mali in the quarter-finals.
It will be the second time the tall defender has missed the AFCON finals after missing the 2019 finals, for which he was also suspended. The former defender of Chelsea he went out with an injury and his place was taken by Mamadou Sarr.
Source: Twitter
Just before half-time, Habib Diarra, who was also booked against Mali, received another card, ruling him out of the Sunday final.
Morocco will have no concerns as their trio of Bilal El Khannouss, Soufiane Rahimi, and Ismael Saibari came out unscathed against Nigeria.
Calvin Bassey of Nigeria and Hossam Abdel Majid of Egypt will miss the third-place play-off.
Fake priest who promised Mali AFCON title arrested
A Malian priest who had promised the team AFCON title was arrested for fraud.
Angry crowds gathered at the home of the native healer after their defeat in the quarter-finals, before the police intervened and took him into custody.
The priest is said to have collected over KSh 5 million.
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