AFCON final preview | Present and future of Ligue 1 face off in blockbuster finale | OneFootball

AFCON Final, Senegal v Morocco, 18/01/2026

“I think he took that decision in the heat of the moment. The rest of the country does not agree with it,” Pape Thiaw reacted to Sadio Mané’s imminent retirement from international football.

After scoring the decisive goal in the semi-final against Egypt on Wednesday, the 33-year-old unexpectedly announced that Sunday night’s final would be his Senegal swansong. For the team’s head coach, though, life without the country’s all-time top scorer is unthinkable: “I don’t think the decision belongs to him anymore. The country wants him to continue, I want him to continue and so does the team.”

In Rabat, Mané will lead the Lions de la Teranga in a continental final for the second time of his career, having scored the title-clinching penalty against Egypt four years ago. Whether Thiaw’s opposition, or tonight’s events, might influence him to go back on his decision to retire remains to be seen. In any case, the former Liverpool (and Metz) man will exit the stage as one of Africa’s footballing greats if he leads Senegal to a second title.

From a Ligue 1 perspective, the final will also be a clash between Paris Saint-Germain’s present and future. While he is the face of the tournament (along with Braim Díaz, if the advertising boards around the country are anything to go by), Achraf Hakimi’s influence on the pitch has been hindered by the ankle injury he is only just recovering from. The full-back made his return to action for the final group stage match to fanfare in the stands, but he has so far had to keep his characteristic bursts down the wing and ventures into midfield to a minimum. 

Ibrahim Mbaye, meanwhile, has been an impressive impact substitute for Senegal. The forward, who only turns 18 next week, created Sadio Mané’s equaliser against DR Congo and scored the goal against Sudan which sealed the Teranga Lions’ spot in the quarter-finals. While all eyes will be on the retiring Sadio Mané, and to a lesser extent Nicolas Jackson and Iliman Ndiaye, the PSG academy product could be the key to unlocking the stubborn Moroccan defence if the match stretches into extra-time.

The hosts have super-subs of their own, of course. One who might make a difference tonight is Hamza Igamane, who has done well to relieve some of Ayoub El Kaabi’s frontline burden in the last two matches. While the Lille striker missed his penalty in the shoot-out against Nigeria, his technical hold-up play has offered Walid Regragui a different attacking profile to those of the overhead kick specialist and Youssef En-Nesyri.

The Atlas Lions will have built their title challenge starting from an impressive defensive unit. Regragui explained on Saturday that the mere presence of Marseille’s Nayef Aguerd was enough to “enhance” any of his centre-back partners, which for most of the tournament has been Adam Masina. In total, the pairing have limited their opponents to just two shots on target inside the box all tournament, one of them being Lassine Sinayoko’s penalty for Mali.

In Senegal’s backline, it’s Monaco winger Krépin Diatta who has emerged as an unlikely standout over the course of the tournament. The 26-year-old manages to cover the entirety of his wing throughout matches, compensating for an attacking-minded approach with rapid tracking back and effective one-on-one marking.

Playing alongside Diatta, the Lyon centre-back Moussa Niakhaté will be tasked with stepping up in the absence of the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly. “We know that they’re playing at home and that the crowd will be with them,” the defender acknowledged on the eve of the final. “That’s not a problem, the match will be decided out on the pitch.“

The build-up to the final was briefly overshadowed by logistical (ticketing and training arrangements) as well as security complaints made by the Senegal FA, as the team left Tangier for the first time in a month. The players’ arrival at Rabat’s main train station to scarce police presence was a notable point of contention — “It’s not normal, my players were in danger,” Pape Thiaw lamented on Saturday. 

A statement released later in the day by the Senegal FA, though, indicated that their concerns had been addressed by the Moroccan FA. The Lions eventually trained that evening next to the Olympic Stadium, the annex ground that sits in the shadow of the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium, and their bus was given a security escort back to the hotel.

With Walid Regragui calling on fans to take the noise levels up to “200 decibels” for the final, the Senegal team will have to brace themselves for an overwhelmingly hostile atmosphere once they enter the venue itself. The Atlas Lions have their own pressure to deal with, though, as an entire nation expects a first AFCON victory in half a century after unprecedented investment to host this year’s tournament.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from Rabat