AFCON final set as Morocco face Senegal, Bundesliga trio involved | OneFootball

Hosts Morocco and 2021 winners Senegal will contest Sunday’s 35th AFCON final after edging tight semi-finals. According to BuLi News, both advanced by the narrowest of margins.

Senegal booked their place at the expense of record winners Egypt, sealed by Sadio Mané, the former Bayern winger, who struck from outside the box 12 minutes from time for his 11th in the competition. Bayern striker Nicolas Jackson had the game’s first chance.

Morocco restricted Nigeria to one shot on target across 120 minutes, though the hosts were not especially enterprising either. A 4-2 shootout win put them into a first final since 2004 after both sides missed their second attempts and Nigeria erred again before sudden death. Bayer Leverkusen’s Eliesse Ben Seghir came on late and scored in the shootout, while Stuttgart’s Bilal El Khannouss played 85 minutes.

It is the third time in the last four editions that Senegal have reached the final, with the 2002 defeat to Cameroon their previous appearance before the recent run. Morocco’s only AFCON title came in Ethiopia 50 years ago.

Côte d’Ivoire ended the host-nation drought in 2023 when then-Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastian Haller scored the winner on home soil. Senegal will be without captain Kalidou Koulibaly and Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra due to suspensions.

All three Bundesliga-based players remain involved. Senegal’s Ismael Jakobs came through Köln’s academy, while Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi previously played for Borussia Dortmund and full-back Noussair Mazraoui had a stint at Bayern.

Source: BuLi News