A victory forged in the event, written in history (by Dr Papa Abdoulaye SECK)
Immense pleasure of an entire people, standing to magnify the bravery, resilience, generosity in effort, as well as the tactical and strategic intelligence of this sublime Senegalese team.
I usually say that football is never a simple eleven against eleven. The ordeal that our national team has just gone through has provided a brilliant demonstration of this.
Indeed, the refereeing of this meeting unfortunately offered a worrying illustration of the excesses which still weaken our continental football. Refusing a goal to the national eleven and whistling, at the very last minute, an imaginary penalty against Senegal was less a human error than a clear renunciation of sporting ethics.
Fortunately, football sometimes experiences immanent justice. God recalled his infinite power by allowing the brilliant Édouard Mendy to stop this unworthy penalty. As a true twelfth man dressed in black, the referee showed selective myopia in the face of Moroccan mistakes, while equipping himself with an electronic microscope to examine the slightest Senegalese action.
Such behavior, without class or haughtiness, amounts to work with the ace of spades. It constitutes a centrifugal force which weakens the necessary African unity, yet called to be based on the cardinal values that sport is supposed to embody: justice, equity, respect and fraternity.
Spirit of atomic narrowness, this arbitration deserves to be inscribed in the annals of sporting mediocrity.
Beyond this parenthesis, the essential remains elsewhere. Morocco must remain in the hearts of the Senegalese: let us understand what happened as one of the consequences of this bad arbitration and let us collectively and sincerely condemn the scenes of violence from which they come.
Furthermore, I would like to salute and renew my heartfelt congratulations to the players, these diambars, who recall the most beautiful pages of our sporting history and add a contribution now engraved in the noblest marble. They played with courage, lucidity, solidarity and a high sense of community.
I fully associate with these congratulations coach Pape Thiaw who led the Senegal national team to continental victory over a period of approximately ten months, interim included, from March 2025 to January 2026. This exceptional performance attests to his perfect knowledge of the national and international ecosystem, his professionalism, his methodological rigor, his tactical and strategic mastery, but also his adherence to a participatory and interdisciplinary approach to modern football.
This coach did us honor, gave us satisfaction and considerably amplified our dreams.
Senegal now has solid reasons to believe in a bright future. But victory allows neither relaxation nor self-satisfaction. We will have to continue to work with method, rigor and humility to remain permanently on the roof of Africa and fly the continental flag with dignity during the next World Cup.
This is within the realm of possibility, provided that we undertake, without delay, a rigorous technical, administrative and accounting assessment, in order to correct our inadequacies and consolidate, then expand, our achievements.
However, let us now remember two things from this final:
The resounding confirmation of our incubator of young talents, including:
– The young Ibrahima Mbaye, who confirms, match after match, the immensity of his potential. At the next World Cup, he could remind the sporting world of King Pelé, who dazzled the planet at 18. Our genius will be the same age before the end of January. The appointment with history is clearly fixed;
– The young Mamadou Sarr, serene, precise, placid, whose playing maturity now makes it obvious: the doors of the big leagues are wide open to him;
– The young Iliman Ndiaye, a naturally gifted footballer, intelligent in his movements and his choices, who can still achieve important levels of progression.
La Tanière executives still have a decisive role to play. Their rich and varied experience remains a major strategic asset. Experience never gets old: it transforms, provided that its use and responsibilities are intelligently redefined.
Let’s be proud of our Lions!
Senegal is a great football nation: three finals in the last four CAN, two continental victories.
The results are not just good: they are excellent.
An entire football ecosystem has just won.
