Senegal vs Morocco: who will put the African crown on?
The best sports betting site 1xBet, Official Sponsor of TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2025, talks about the AFCON 2025 final which will be held on January 18. Enjoy the main match of the tournament, choose your favorites and approach gambling responsibly.
The trophy will be contested by the best teams
The Senegal national team has reached the final for the 3rd time in the last 4 tournaments. In 2019, the Lions of Teranga lost to Algeria, and in 2022, they beat Egypt in a penalty shootout. The Senegalese also reached the final in 2002, which ended in defeat on penalties to Cameroon. This team has shown impressive consistency and hasn’t lost in regular time in 17 AFCON games in a row.
In 2022, Morocco reached the World Cup semi-finals, which is the best result ever achieved by an African national team in the tournament’s history. However, the Atlas Lions struggled to make their mark at AFCON for a very long time. This is their first final since 2004, with their only title won in 1976.
On their way to the final, both teams showed identical results: 5 wins and 1 draw. But there’s a difference because Senegal failed to beat DR Congo in the group stage when the situation didn’t require them to give their all. The Moroccans, on the other hand, had a really tough 120 minutes and a penalty shootout in the semi-final against Nigeria.
Interestingly, Senegal and Morocco are the two most expensive national teams at AFCON 2025 according to Transfermarkt.
Personnel situation
Morocco lost Azzedine Ounahi due to injury before the knockout stage, but the depth of their roster allows the Atlas Lions to compensate for his absence.
Senegal will be without Kalidou Koulibaly and Habib Diarra, who became a starting player in the knockout stage, due to suspension. Neither player received high ratings, but Koulibaly is the team’s captain and defense leader.
Possible scenario
Both semi-finals were characterized by extremely cautious play. The stakes will be even higher in the final.
Both teams like to control the ball. But Senegal’s possession often proves fruitless. The Lions of Teranga might not have broken through Egypt’s defense in the semi-final if Sadio Mané (2 goals and 3 assists in the tournament) hadn’t decided to take a crushing long-range shot.
Morocco have conceded only 1 goal, but even in the semi-final against Nigeria, who have the best attack at AFCON 2025, the team didn’t play defensively, although they were slightly inferior in terms of possession. The Atlas Lions also have problems in positional attack, and Brahim DÃaz, who scored 5 of the hosts’ 9 goals, didn’t look impressive in the match against the Super Eagles. Ayoub El Kaabi (3 goals) has only made one goal contribution in the knockout stage – an assist to Ismael Saibari in the quarter-finals.
At the same time, both finalists have elite goalkeepers. Both Yassine Bounou and Édouard Mendy concede fewer goals than their opponents’ xG would suggest.
Fun fact
The AFCON hosts have won 12 of the 15 finals, including the last three. This is a point in Morocco’s favor.
Odds: W1 – 3.565, X – 3.155, W2 – 2.363. Match winners: Senegal – 2.19, Morocco – 1.6
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