Brahim Diaz costs Morocco AFCON title, but wins Golden Boot

Brahim Diaz finished the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations as the tournament’s top scorer, but he was not cheering when the final whistle blew in Rabat.

The Morocco forward missed a decisive late penalty before Senegal secured a 1-0 win after extra time, breaking hearts in one of the most chaotic finals in AFCON history.

With the score level deep into extra time, Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded Morocco a penalty after being sent to the pitch monitor to assess a challenge from El Hadji Malick Diouf on Diaz following a corner.

Ndala had initially waved away Morocco’s calls, prompting visible anger from Real Madrid star Diaz, but VAR officials advised the referee to review the incident. After watching the replay, Ndala changed his decision and pointed to the spot in the 98th minute.

Senegalese players walk off the field during AFCON 2025 final

The call sparked angry protests from Senegal’s players and coaching staff, especially as it came just minutes after Senegal had a goal disallowed due to a soft foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi at the other end.

Senegalese head coach Pape Bouna Thiaw ordered his players to leave the field in protest, and the majority of the Senegalese squad followed him through the tunnel, but Sadio Mane stayed and later convinced his teammates to continue.

The game was stopped for more than ten minutes as the referees tried to persuade Senegal to return. The tension in the stadium rose sharply as the home fans anticipated the decisive moment.

Brahim Diaz misses a penalty because Panenka makes a mistake

Eventually, the Senegal players emerged from the tunnel and the match was allowed to resume, with Diaz taking the delayed penalty in the 114th minute.

Instead of opting for power, Diaz tried to finish with a stocky Panenka straight through the middle, but his effort was weak and comfortably met by goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The effort was so tame that the E4 The commentary team even speculated whether Diaz might have missed the penalty on purpose – a conspiracy theory later promoted on social media by Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri.

But Diaz’s devastating reaction – and the fact that he had kissed the ball before hitting it – made such a suggestion hard to believe.

Tournament prizes

Morocco – Fair Play Award
⚽️ Brahim Diaz – Golden Boot
Sadio Mane – Player of the Tournament
Yassine Bounou – Golden Glove#AFCONFinale | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 pic.twitter.com/IuIq5oKiKe

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) January 18, 2026

Instead of celebrating a historic home win, Morocco were stunned as the final went into extra time with the score still at 0-0.

Senegal took full advantage of the momentum shift and just four minutes into extra time, Pape Gueye produced a brilliant strike to break the deadlock.

That goal proved decisive as Senegal defended resolutely for the remainder of extra time to secure the AFCON title despite late pressure from the hosts.

Despite the devastating miss, Diaz still finished AFCON 2025 as the tournament’s Golden Boot winner with five goals, finishing the competition ahead of Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Nigerian Victor Osimhen, who both finished on four.

None of these players found the net after the quarterfinals.

AFCON 2025 Golden Boot final rankings

Salah and Osimhen’s clean sheet in Saturday’s third-place play-off saw Diaz move to the top of the scoring charts.

That status was eventually confirmed in Rabat, but will offer little solace after his horrific miss in front of an expectant home crowd.

Meanwhile, Senegal icon Mane ended AFCON 2025 as the official Player of the Tournament. Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou took home the Golden Glove.

Despite winning AFCON 2025, Senegal is still below Morocco in the all-time AFCON table. Nigeria has replaced Egypt in the first place.