Morocco will look to end a 50-year wait for their second continental title when they face Senegal in the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.
But the Atlas Lions will also be looking to garner the ultimate return for their country’s huge investment in footballing infrastructure.
The game in Rabat (19:00 GMT) pits the continent’s top two teams against one another, with the North Africans ranked 11th in the world and the Teranga Lions eight places below them.
“We are waiting for this trophy for 50 years now,” Morocco defender Romain Saiss told the BBC World Service.
“It’s been a long time for everyone in the country. It’s the dream of all Moroccans.”
Morocco boast the best defence at the finals, with five clean sheets and the only goal conceded by Yassine Bounou coming from the penalty spot, but will face a stern examination from a Senegal side which has scored 12 times en route to booking their place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.
The West Africans are also bidding for their second Afcon crown, having claimed their maiden trophy at the 2021 edition in Cameroon.
As well as the glory and the chance to call themselves the best team on the continent, the champions will pick up $10m in prize money – an increase of $3m from the last tournament.
Meanwhile, for the fourth edition in a row the winners will be coached by an African, with Morocco’s Walid Regragui or Senegal’s Pape Thiaw emulating Djamel Belmadi (Algeria, 2019), Aliou Cisse (Senegal, 2021) and Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast, 2023).
Trophy would cap years of Moroccan investment
Winning Afcon has been a long-term project for Morocco – and one backed by King Mohammed VI, who first discussed his plan to use football as a tool for social and economic development in 2008.
Vast sums have been pumped into stadium construction and renovation, with an academy and a state-of-the art-training complex opened in 2009 and 2019 respectively.
Triumph has followed on the pitch, but most of their successes have been achieved by age-grade teams or Morocco’s ‘A’ side rather than the Atlas Lions – even if they did become the first African team to reach the Fifa World Cup semi-finals at Qatar 2022.
The Under-23s won bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Under-20s were crowned world champions after defeating Argentina in October last year.
Morocco have also won the past three editions of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) – a tournament for domestic-based players – in which they have participated (2018, 2020 and 2024) and that side also claimed the Fifa Arab Cup last month.
Yet Morocco have rarely come close to lifting the Afcon trophy since their sole triumph in Ethiopia in 1976, with this just their second appearance in the final since then.
“We’re reaping the rewards of the golden age of Moroccan football but we mustn’t forget where we come from,” said Regragui, who was part of the last Morocco team to play an Afcon final, appearing in their 2-1 defeat by Tunisia in 2004.
The 50-year-old has been under intense pressure to deliver the trophy, with his tactics often criticised, and now has one final hurdle to overcome.
“I am very happy for the players and for the Moroccan people who really deserve this,” he said after their semi-final win over Nigeria on penalties.
“It is a great gift for them to be in the final but we will need to recover quickly because we put a lot of energy into the game.”
Mane looks to bow out in glory
Senegal, meanwhile, progressed past record seven-time champions Egypt in the last four thanks to a second-half strike from talisman Sadio Mane.
The 33-year-old netted the winning penalty in the 2021 final, also against the Pharaohs, and proved once again that he is the man for the big occasion.
The former Liverpool forward is keen to pick up another winner’s medal, having seemingly announced that this will be his last appearance at Afcon.
“A final is meant to be won,” Mane said.
“I will be very happy to play my last Afcon final, to enjoy it and to make my country win.”
However, Senegal have an array of attacking talent alongside Mane, with Iliman Ndiaye, Nicolas Jackson, Habib Diallo, Ismaila Sarr and 17-year-old Ibrahim Mbaye all offering a goal threat.
The Teranga Lions will be without captain Kalidou Koulibaly and midfielder Habib Diarra through suspension, but goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye are among the survivors from their last triumph.
They will feature in the final for the fourth time, having lost the showpiece match in 2002 and 2019 before finally claiming the title four years ago.
Thiaw, like Regragui, has also tasted Afcon defeat as a player as part of the squad which was beaten on penalties by Cameroon 24 years ago.
However, he will have the chance to create his own piece of history, potentially becoming the first man to coach a side to both CHAN and Afcon glory.
Focus on the details
Morocco have the tournament’s top scorer in their ranks, with Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz netting in the first five games at the finals before drawing a blank in the goalless draw against Nigeria.
Reigning African footballer of the year Achraf Hakimi captains the side and Bounou, named the best goalkeeper on the continent for a second time in November, displayed his prowess by saving two penalties in the shootout against the Super Eagles.
The hosts have not lost a competitive game on home soil since November 2009, a defeat by Cameroon in Fes, and the expected 69,500-capacity crowd in the capital will provide an intimidating atmosphere for their opponents.
Yet Saiss, who led the team in their opening match against Comoros before picking up an injury, knows they must not be overawed by the occasion.
“It’s the kind of game where the details will make the difference,” the centre-back said.
“We have to keep our concentration, our desire to win and our discipline and try to win on Sunday.”
A second Afcon title, and a place in the history books, beckons for one side.
Morocco’s victories in Rabat throughout the tournament have sparked celebrations across the country, but Senegal have the chance to ruin what would be a party the Atlas Lions have been awaiting for half a century.
