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The Africa Cup of Nations final takes place in Rabat on Sunday.
Host nation Morocco face the attacking power of an impressive Senegal side for the right to be crowned kings of Africa. Nigeria claimed the bronze medal by beating Egypt on penalties in Saturday's third-place playoff.
This is arguably the biggest AFCON game in Morocco's history, given their relative lack of trophies and the fact this final takes place in front of a vociferous home crowd. Senegal, however, have been quality performers over the past month and will provide a major test for Walid Regragui's team.
AllSportsPeople is following the game live and providing score updates, commentary and highlights below.
Senegal vs. Morocco AFCON final live score
| ET 1st Half | Goal-scorers | |
| Senegal | 1 | P. Gueye 94' |
| Morocco | 0 |
Venue: Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium (Rabat, Morocco)
Referee: Jean‑Jacques Ngambo Ndala (DR Congo)
Keep track of every game and every goal today via SN's live scoreboard
Starting lineups:
(Subs)
Senegal (4-2-2-2, right to left): E. Mendy (GK) — A. Mendy (Seck), M. Sarr, Niakhate, E. Diouf — L. Camara (I. Sarr), I. Gueye — I. Ndiaye (Mbaye), P. Gueye — Jackson (C. Ndiaye), Mane
Morocco (4-3-3, right to left): Bono (GK) — Hakimi, Aguerd, Masina (El Yamiq), Mazraoui (Igamane) — Abde Ezzalzouli, El Aynaoui, Saibari — El Khannouss (Targhalline), El Kaabi (En-Nesyri), B. Diaz (Akhomach)
MORE: Morocco's history in AFCON finals | How many times have Senegal won?
Senegal vs. Morocco AFCON final live updates, highlights, and commentary
96 mins: Diaz is off, replaced by Ilias Akhomach. What must be going through his head?
94 mins: GOAL! SENEGAL LEAD! Pape Gueye lashes a shot into the top corner with his left foot from 20 yards. The home fans are stunned!
Kickoff: ET first half
What more is in store?
End of 90 minutes
That's the final kick! We're going to extra time. Walid Regragui is berating Diaz. What is going on.
90+23 mins: DIAZ MISSES! He tries a Panenka, and Mendy reads it and catches the ball! Utterly incredible. We're heading to extra time.
90+20 mins: Senegal are back on the field, and we'll finally have this penalty...
90+18 mins: The rest of the Senegal team has gone down the tunnel, but Sadio Mane appears to be trying to get them back onto the pitch.
90+17 mins: Arguments continue on the touchline. This is remarkable.
90+11 mins: Pape Thiaw is calling his players to the sideline! He wants them to leave the pitch. This is extraordinary.
90+9 mins: Senegal are furious. Diouf definitely put an arm around Diaz's shoulders, but he went to ground so easily. What a huge moment this is.
90+8 mins: PENALTY CHECK! Brahim Diaz goes to ground as Diouf puts an arm around his neck at a corner. The referee is checking the monitor. This would be a pretty soft foul if it's given...
IT IS GIVEN! PENALTY MOROCCO!
90+2 mins: SENEGAL SCORE — but no! A free-kick is given! Substitute Abdoulaye Seck heads against the crossbar and Sarr converts the rebound, but the referee awards a foul against Hakimi, who went to ground in the box very easily there as he marked Seck. The foul was given before the ball ended up in the net, so VAR cannot intervene.
90+1 mins: Brilliant from El Yamiq, who somehow contorts his body to stop a cross reaching Nicolas Jackson two yards out. Fantastic defending.
90 mins: Chances at both ends! PSG youngster Ibrahim Mbaye stings the palms of Bono. Morocco clear their lines and break, and Ezzalzouli goes close at the near post. We'll have eight minutes of injury time...
88 mins: Adam Masina sheds tears as he is forced off due to injury. Jawad El Yamiq replaces him.
74 mins: After nearly a 10-minute delay, El Aynaoui is bandaged up, and it looks like he'll continue. Achraf Hakimi finally takes the corner, but it comes to nothing.
El Aynaoui has changed his shirt three times at least because of blood stains.
69 mins: El Aynaoui is still being patched up. Sofyan Amrabat is warming up on the sidelines. Diouf looks to be okay to continue.
64 mins: Morocco have been applying the greater pressure this half, but it remains goalless. We've got a stoppage in play after a clash of heads between Neil El Aynaoui and El Hadji Malick Diouf, both of whom need some substantial treatment here.
58 mins: HUGE CHANCE! Ayoub El Kaabi sidefoots wide from Bilal El Khannouss's excellent low cross from the right.
Kickoff: Second half
Back underway.
Halftime
It's been competitive, tense, and closely fought. A couple of big chances, but that's it.
45+3 mins: Ndiaye wins back possession in the Morocco half and finds Camara, who goes for a shot that Noussair Mazraoui blocks brilliantly. He had two Senegal team-mates free to his left...
45+1 mins: Camara, back on his feet, is involved in a swift Senegal counter-attack that sees Sadio Mane win a corner. The hosts clear the delivery in the end.
44 mins: Lamine Camara makes an excellent sliding tackle on Saibari on the edge of the Senegal box, but he's paid a price for it. He's receiving treatment for what looks like an impact injury.
40 mins: What a chance for Morocco! Abde Ezzalzouli delivers a superb cross, but Nayef Aguerd completely misses the ball with his attempted header. That was a big opportunity.
38 mins: HUGE SAVE FROM BONO! Nicolas Jackson slides a ball through to Iliman Ndiaye, who has a clear run at goal. He goes for the low finish into the bottom-left corner, but Bono spreads himself superbly and gets a foot on the ball to divert it behind. Excellent goalkeeping.
That big-game save.
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 18, 2026
Yassine Bounou. 🤯🧤#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/OWEW96929L
30 mins: Morocco have a free-kick in a promising position, but it's wasted. Another commentator has just described this as "captivating". Frankly, I'm not sure I agree.
22 mins: The game has hit a bit of a lull. Morocco are having more of the ball, and the fans are starting to build some noise, but there has been little by way of goalmouth action. A typical final, you might argue.
14 mins: PSV's Ismael Saibari forays forward and has room for a shot on the edge of the box. He shanks the effort, badly.
11 mins: Unsurprisingly, it's been a scrappy first 10 minutes. Senegal have done a good job of quieting the home crowd here. There's a lot of early tension.
5 mins: Big chance for Pape Gueye! A Senegal corner towards the far post finds the head of the Villarreal midfielder, but Yassine Bono reacts well to block his effort after being caught out of position.
Kickoff: First half
Here we go!
Pregame: Today's host venue, the Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.
📍Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah, Rabat #SenegalMaroc | #FinalAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/ReH2qpm94h
— Equipe du Sénégal (@GaindeYi) January 18, 2026
Pregame: Sadio Mane has won just about every trophy going in his career, including the AFCON in 2021. He's still setting records at the age of 33. If Senegal win here, could the ex-Liverpool man be considered Africa's greatest ever player?
18 - Senegal’s Sadio Mané has created the most chances (18) at the 2025 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, with all 18 coming from open play - this is the most chances created from open play by anyone in a single #AFCON edition on record (since 2010). Catalyst. Pic.twitter.com/UgAikqv6wF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 18, 2026
Pregame: We're not necessarily expecting a goal-fest!
13 - The last 13 AFCON finals have either been decided by a single goal or gone to penalties.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 16, 2026
The last final won by more than one goal was Egypt’s 2-0 victory over South Africa in 1998.
Tense 🇸🇳🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/iJFUOIsqx3
Pregame: It's AFCON final day!
🤩🤩🤩CAF and PUMA unveil special version of Official Match Ball ITRI for TotalEnergies CAF AFCON Morocco 2025 Final.
— CAF Media (@CAF_Media) January 16, 2026
🔗https://t.co/x7muPIRWaP#TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/VTCrPxZkYw
Senegal vs. Morocco AFCON final kick off time
The AFCON final kicks off at 8 p.m. Local time in Rabat, Morocco.
Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA/Canada | Sun, Jan. 18 | 2 p.m. ET |
| USA/Canada | Sun, Jan. 18 | 11 a.m. ET |
| UK | Sun, Jan. 18 | 7 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Mon, Jan. 19 | 6 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Sun, Jan. 18 | 11:30 p.m. IST |
Senegal vs. Morocco lineups, team news
The big absentee for Senegal is captain and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, who is suspended for this match due to yellow-card accumulation in the knockouts. He is also suffering from a muscle problem, so he would likely have been a major doubt for this game anyway.
Senegal starting lineup (4-2-2-2, right to left): E. Mendy (GK) — A. Mendy, M. Sarr, Niakhate, E. Diouf — L. Camara, I. Gueye — I. Ndiaye, P. Gueye — Jackson, Mane
Senegal subs: Y. Diouf, Seck, Ciss, Dia, C. Ndiaye, Jakobs, Diatta, P. Sarr, I. Sarr, Diallo, Sabaly, Niang, Diaw, Mbaye, M. Camara
Azzedine Ounahi is set to miss out due to a leg injury, but the hosts are otherwise in good shape ahead of arguably their biggest ever AFCON game.
Morocco starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): Bono (GK) — Hakimi, Aguerd, Masina, Mazraoui — Abde Ezzalzouli, El Aynaoui, Saibari — El Khannouss, El Kaabi, B. Diaz
Morocco subs: Amrabat, Saiss, Igamane, Rahimi, Mohamedi, Targhalline, Chibi, Akhomach, El Yamiq, En-Nesyri, Talbi, Al Harrar, Salah-Eddine, Ait Boudlal, Belammari
Senegal vs. Morocco AFCON final live stream, TV channel
Here is how to watch the match in some of the world's major regions:
| Region | TV | Streaming |
| USA | beIN Sports | beIN Sports Connect, Fubo |
| Canada | beIN Sports Canada | beIN Sports Connect, Fubo |
| UK | E4 | Channel 4 online |
| Australia | beIN Sports 3 | beIN Sports Connect |
| India | — | Fancode |