AFCON 2025: From Quarterfinals to the Final: A Timeline of Contentious Decisions Favoring Morocco

CameroonOnline.ORG | Senegal are the champions of Africa, securing the title in the most dramatic fashion imaginable: a 1-0 extra-time victory that came only after a player walk-off, a disallowed goal, and a saved penalty. But while the Lions of Teranga lift the trophy, the story of AFCON 2025 remains dominated by a darker narrative—one that suggests the host nation, Morocco, benefited from a persistent and questionable pattern of refereeing decisions throughout the knockout stages.

The chaos of Sunday’s final was not an isolated incident. It was the crescendo of a tournament where opponents repeatedly felt that the “rub of the green” was not luck, but a systematic tilting of the field in favor of the Atlas Lions. From the quarterfinals to the final whistle, the question lingering over the tournament is uncomfortable but necessary: Was the officiating simply incompetent, or was the host nation being protected?

The Final Meltdown: Chaos in the Capital

The final between Senegal and Morocco will go down as one of the most controversial in history. While Senegal emerged victorious, they did so despite decisions that nearly caused them to abandon the match entirely.

In the dying minutes of regulation time, Senegal appeared to have won the game when Ismaila Sarr headed home. However, referee Jean-Jacques Ndala had already blown his whistle for a foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi—a contact that replays suggested was minimal at best. Because the whistle blew before the ball crossed the line, VAR could not intervene.

Minutes later, the controversy compounded. Morocco was awarded a penalty in the 8th minute of stoppage time after a VAR review spotted a shirt tug on Brahim Diaz. The decision incensed the Senegalese bench. Head coach Pape Thiaw, usually a figure of calm, led his players off the pitch in protest, halting the game for nearly 20 minutes.

It took the intervention of veteran Sadio Mané to convince his teammates to return. Justice, in the eyes of many neutrals, was served when Edouard Mendy saved Diaz’s subsequent Panenka attempt, allowing Pape Gueye to score the winner in extra time. But the near-forfeit highlighted the depth of frustration felt by Morocco’s opponents.

The Semifinal: “Appalling” Decisions Against Nigeria

The narrative of bias was already well-established before the final. In the semifinals, Nigeria’s Super Eagles fell to Morocco on penalties, but the post-match discourse focused heavily on the officials.

Nigerian defender Bright Osayi-Samuel did not mince words, describing the refereeing as “appalling.” The Nigerian squad felt that legitimate physical contests were repeatedly penalized as fouls to break up their play, while similar challenges by Moroccan players went unpunished.

“It is really painful to see that we have referees like that in a big game,” Osayi-Samuel lamented. Victor Osimhen echoed these sentiments, suggesting that the officiating effectively handcuffed Nigeria’s ability to compete physically with the hosts. The frustration was not just about one major call, but a “death by a thousand cuts”—a series of minor decisions that consistently disrupted Nigeria’s rhythm and handed momentum to the hosts.

The Quarterfinal: “Robbery in Rabat”

Perhaps the most egregious claims of bias emerged from the quarterfinals, where Cameroon was defeated 2-0. The match has since been dubbed the “Robbery in Rabat” by CameroonOnline.ORG.

The pivotal moment came when Cameroon’s Bryan Mbeumo appeared to be fouled in the box by Moroccan defender Adam Masina. Despite clear contact, the referee waved play on, and VAR did not intervene to recommend a review. Had the penalty been awarded and converted, it would have leveled the game and potentially altered the tournament’s trajectory.

Cameroon’s grievances didn’t end there; late in the game, Masina was involved in another controversial incident involving an elbow on Etta Eyong, which also went unpunished. The accumulation of these calls left the Indomitable Lions feeling that they were fighting not just eleven Moroccan players, but the officials as well.

Incompetence or Home Bias?

Walid Regragui, Morocco’s head coach, has staunchly rejected these accusations. “The only advantage that Morocco has at this Africa Cup is playing in front of 65,000 spectators,” he argued before the semifinals, attributing his team’s success to performance rather than protection.

However, the pattern is difficult to ignore. In three consecutive knockout games, the 50-50 calls—and sometimes the 80-20 calls—consistently favored the hosts:

• vs. Cameroon: A clear penalty denied.

• vs. Nigeria: Consistent “soft” fouls breaking up play.

• vs. Senegal: A goal disallowed on a technicality and a soft penalty awarded in stoppage time.

While home advantage often influences referees subconsciously via crowd noise, the severity and frequency of these decisions at AFCON 2025 have led to accusations that go beyond human error.

Senegal’s victory may have saved the Confederation of African Football (CAF) from a PR nightmare. Had Morocco won the title via that stoppage-time penalty after Senegal’s disallowed goal, the legitimacy of the tournament would have been irrevocably stained. As it stands, the “Lions of Teranga” won the cup, but the questions regarding the officiating standards—and their mysterious alignment with the host’s interests—remain unanswered.