# Morocco declared Africa Cup of Nations winners after CAF overturns final defeat

The event date is 2026-03-17.

Morocco have been declared winners of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after the Confederation of African Football overturned their original final defeat to Senegal.

The BBC Sport report says the decision followed Senegal’s controversial walk-off in the final. Senegal had initially been credited with a 1-0 win after an extra-time goal by Pape Gueye, but the final was overshadowed by a stoppage-time penalty award to Morocco and a delay in which Senegalese players refused to continue before eventually returning.

CAF’s appeal board later ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match, with the result recorded as a 3-0 victory for Morocco. That is a major reversal because it changes the identity of the tournament winner after the competition had already appeared to be settled on the field.

The timing of the incident matters. The final had been played on 18 January, and the appeal decision arrived later. That separation between the match and the ruling means the governing body was not just reviewing a call in play; it was addressing a walk-off that affected the integrity of the final itself.

The BBC report says the Senegalese Football Federation intended to appeal. It also notes that the dispute followed a controversial period in the match after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the score level. A delay of about 17 minutes followed before play resumed. Those events explain why the final became one of the most controversial in recent Africa Cup of Nations history.

The ruling also affects the emotional memory of the final. Senegal had celebrated what looked like a title win, while Morocco had been left with the frustration of a defeat in the championship match. By overturning the result, CAF has turned that public understanding upside down and reopened the debate over how the final was managed.

For Morocco, the ruling converts a painful defeat into an official title. For Senegal, it turns a celebrated victory into a formal forfeit. For CAF, it is an extraordinary intervention that changes the tournament record after the fact.

The supplied evidence does not include the appeal board’s full reasoning, any disciplinary fine or the likely schedule for the appeal. It also does not provide reactions from Moroccan officials. What it does verify is the core outcome: CAF has overturned the final, Morocco are now the recorded winners and Senegal are expected to challenge the ruling.

That makes this more than a post-match administrative note. It is a remaking of the championship result itself.

The ruling also leaves open a formal dispute process, since the Senegalese federation has said it will appeal. That means the public record may continue to move, but the immediate verified change is already dramatic: a final that had appeared settled on the field is now being rewritten by the confederation.

For tournament organisers, the case is unusual because it alters the final result after the final whistle. That makes it more than a disciplinary note. The ruling changes the historical record, the medal table and the story of the competition, even if the legal fight is not finished yet.