Key takeaways from the 2025 Afcon final as Senegalese superstar Sadio Mané cements his legacy

The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, which was the 35th in history of the continental soccer spectacle, provided a number of key talking points.

These ran from Senegal superstar Sadio Mané cementing his legacy as one of Africa’s greatest players ever, to players and team officials showing that they have little trust in referees.

Of course, the latest season of the long-running Afcon show was also a dress rehearsal for Morocco before their co-hosting of the 2030 Fifa World Cup. The Moroccans will stage the global soccer tournament alongside Spain and Portugal, joining South Africa as the only other African nation to be granted soccer World Cup hosting rights to date.

Magnificent Mané

Within the chaos that engulfed the final of the 2025 Afcon (which took place on 18 January 2026) between Morocco and Senegal, there was one shining light and voice of reason – Senegal talisman Mané.

The former Liverpool forward convinced his teammates to return the field after the team’s head coach Pape Thiaw had pulled them off in protest against a decision by referee Jean-Jacques Ndala to award the hosts a last-gasp penalty. As it was injury time, that would have been the last significant action of the match.

“When they decided to leave the pitch, I stayed and asked some people: ‘What do you think about this? Is it a good idea or not?’ Then I decided to go and bring everyone back to the pitch. It was the best thing to do,” Mané said after the match.

“Because this is just football, the referees can sometimes make mistakes. People around the world were watching. It could be a penalty or not, but that is not the most important thing. What matters is respecting the game. It is not fair to stop a match like this,” the 33-year-old added.

In the end, Mané’s intervention was justified. Morocco’s Brahim Díaz missed the spot-kick after attempting a cheeky Panenka penalty. This on the back of a lengthy delay as Senegal’s boycott of the match was being dealt with by officials.

The match eventually went to extra time. Senegal hushed the thousands of Moroccans gathered at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat. Midfielder Pape Gueye scored what would eventually be the winning strike four minutes into overtime. There was no debate about the legality of that sequence of play.

When the dust had settled in the aftermath of the chaos, one name stood apart from the rest, shining even brighter than the gold-plated Afcon trophy Senegal lifted: Sadio Mané.

Boosted legacy

Mané’s actions have added to his legacy as one of Africa’s greatest soccer players ever. With two Afcon gold medals on the back of the team’s success in 2021, he has now joined players such as Samuel Eto’o and Roger Milla in winning multiple Afcon titles. This is in addition being crowned African Player of the Year twice in his career.

In addition, Mané won almost every trophy possible while playing for Liverpool between 2016 and 2022. He scored 120 goals in just over 260 matches across competitions for the Reds. His goals helped deliver Liverpool’s first English Premier League title, as well as aiding the team’s overall success in the European Champions League in 2019.

“I’ve never wanted to be remembered only as a great football player. I want to be remembered as a great human being. For me, that is far more important,” Mané tsaid during the 2025 Afcon.

“People are watching you, whether you accept it or not. They want to become like you. So, you have to be yourself in every way, with honesty. To be not just a good example to others, but a great one. To educate our children to become better people in life. That helps them, their parents and the entire community,” the Senegalese superstar said.

Mané walked this talk during the 2025 Afcon final. Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado handed her Nobel Peace Prize to US president Donald Trump a few days ago.

Maybe Trump can pay the gesture forward by passing on his Fifa Peace Prize to Mané.

Refereeing distrust

South African Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has pushed for the implementation of the video assistant referee (VAR) system since being installed into his position. However, McKenzie (an avid soccer lover) would have observed that the use of the VAR system did not stop teams and officials from questioning refereeing decisions throughout Afcon 2025.

The incident in the final that required Mané’s intervention was not an isolated one. In fact, even South Africa coach Hugo Broos lamented the officiating standards at the tournament. This was on the back of his team losing 1-0 to Egypt in the group stages, via a questionable penalty.

Even Cameroonian Football Federation president Samuel Eto’o openly expressed his displeasure at some of the refereeing decisions as Cameroon lost 2-0 to Morocco in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Afcon.

The former striker, who is the all-time leading top scorer in Afcon history, has since been banned from the stadium for four Cameroon matches for his actions. He was also fined $20,000 (about R329,000).

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has since released a statement criticising the events from the 2025 Afcon final. The custodian of African soccer said: “CAF condemns the unacceptable behaviour of some players and officials during the final between Morocco and Senegal in Rabat. CAF strongly condemns any inappropriate behaviour which occurs during matches, especially those targeting the refereeing team or match organisers.”

The federation said it was “reviewing all footage and will refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action to be taken against those found guilty”.

As for Morocco, they showcased their beautiful infrastructure before co-hosting the 2030 Soccer World Cup. They will just have to examine the conduct of their ball boys before the global showpiece. In the final they could be seen bullying Senegal’s reserve goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf.

If it persists, such unsportsmanlike behaviour will cast the country in a bad light in four years time when it welcomes the world. DM