Robbery in Rabat? How a Denied Penalty and Referee Drama May Have Cost Cameroon Against Morocco

CameroonOnline.ORG | The Quarter-final clash of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Rabat was billed as a blockbuster: the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon against the host nation, the Atlas Lions of Morocco. While the scoreboard reads a 2-0 victory for Morocco, the narrative emerging from the Cameroonian camp is not one of defeat, but of injustice.

From a suspicious last-minute referee change to a “flagrant” denied penalty, Cameroon leaves the tournament feeling they were robbed of a fair chance to fight for a spot in the semi-finals.

The Turning Point: The Penalty That Never Was

The match’s most contentious moment arrived around the 68th minute. With Morocco leading by a slender 1-0 margin, Cameroon’s star attacker, Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United), drove into the Moroccan penalty area.

As Mbeumo looked to create a scoring opportunity, he was met by Moroccan defender Adam Masina. The contact appeared evident—Masina caught Mbeumo’s foot, sending the forward crashing to the turf. The Cameroonian players surrounded the official, pleading for a whistle, but Mauritanian referee Dahane Beida remained unmoved. He allowed play to continue, and shortly after, Morocco doubled their lead, effectively sealing the game.

Replays suggested the contact was undeniable.

“During the match, I felt that he touched me,” Mbeumo told BeIN Sports after the final whistle. “After the match, I was shown the images… it is very, very flagrant. I don’t know what more to say.”

Mbeumo’s frustration was palpable, hinting at a sense of inevitability playing against the host nation: “It was a game fact, and we also knew what to expect.”

Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba echoed his teammate’s sentiment, noting that a penalty call at that specific moment would have altered the momentum entirely. “If the referee had whistled for that penalty, I think the match would have taken a different turn,” Baleba lamented.

The Shadow of the 11th-Hour Referee Change

While the denied penalty was the flashpoint, the controversy began nearly 24 hours before kickoff. Initially, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had appointed Egyptian referee Amin Omar to officiate the high-stakes encounter.

However, in a move that stunned observers, CAF removed Omar from the fixture less than a day before the game, replacing him with Mauritanian official Dahane Beida. Reports, including those from L’Équipe, suggest this sudden shuffle wasn’t random.

Allegations have surfaced that Morocco formally contested the initial appointment of the refereeing trio, effectively forcing CAF’s hand. The result was a match officiated by a replacement referee who, according to Cameroonian critics, proceeded to ignore clear fouls against the visitors—including a dangerous elbow by Nayef Aguerd and a challenge that injured Tchamadeu.

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

Despite the uproar from the players, Cameroon’s head coach David Pagou took a more diplomatic, albeit resigned, stance.

“The referee is the master of the game… we bow to the laws of the game,” Pagou stated in his post-match press conference. “I haven’t looked at the images, but the match is over. It’s a game fact, it binds only him and his conscience.”

For the fans and players, however, “conscience” offers little comfort. Cameroon is out of the AFCON and missed qualification for the 2026 World Cup, leaving them to prepare for the future with a bitter taste of “what if.”

Morocco advances to the semi-finals fueled by goals from Brahim Diaz and Saibari, but for the Indomitable Lions, the story of this quarter-final will always be the whistle that never blew.