Morocco have been awarded a 3-0 win in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final after Senegal were sensationally stripped of the title in an unprecedented ruling
Idriss Gueye during the AFCON final between Morocco and Senegal
Idriss Gueye during the 2026 AFCON final between Morocco and Senegal (Image: (Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
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Idrissa Gueye has slammed the decision to strip his Senegal side of their Africa Cup of Nations title and believes those who made the call don’t care about African football. The Confederation of African Football announced the decision earlier this month to award victory to Morocco two months after the acrimonious conclusion to the tournament.
An appeal board determined the Senegal team had forfeited the match when they left the field in protest at a disputed penalty deep in stoppage time. The walk-off, instigated by Senegal coach Pape Thiaw, led to a lengthy delay, and, when the game was belatedly restarted, Brahim Diaz saw his spot-kick saved by Edouard Mendy.
Pape Gueye went on to score the winning goal in extra time, but there was unrest in the crowd and recriminations in the aftermath.
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But having studied the circumstances, the appeal board took the unprecedented step of reversing the result, awarding a 3-0 win to Morocco.
And Gueye has been left furious by the decision, saying: “I think this decision is just ridiculous. We win the game on the pitch, not in offices and as a Senegalese player I’m just proud of what we did in the African Cup of Nations.
“People who take this decision they are maybe against Africa, because Africa doesn’t need this type of decision.
“We deserve this trophy; we fight on the pitch and everyone knows what happened and I think if you play 10 times this game, we would win it 10 times.
“Not because we are better than Morocco but because it was our destiny because we gave everything on the pitch and we deserve to be champions.”
Idrissa Gueye celebrates after the Africa Cup of Nations final
Idrissa Gueye celebrates after the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations final(Image: (Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images))
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Asked if he was worried about having to return his medal, Gueye replied: “No, we really don’t care about medals, about trophies because the most important thing is on the pitch and not what you write on the paper. On the pitch we won it and no-one can change this.”
The Senegalese Football Federation have already announced its intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but despite the serious nature of the decision, Gueye has found time to laugh about the situation with Blues team-mate Adam Aznou, who is Moroccan.
“Just Adam Aznou,” the midfielder revealed when asked if he had heard from any Moroccan players. “We just laugh about this because sometimes it’s funny.
“I said to him next time I will bring the medal for him. We are all brothers and no-one can push me to hate Morocco’s people. Morocco and Senegal have a good relationship.
“As I said, maybe people who take this decision are against Africa because everyone has started to talk about AFCON and compare it against Europe and the Copa America. I think Africa doesn’t deserve this.”