Morocco reached the final of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 after overcoming holders Senegal 5-3 on penalties following a tense 1-1 draw after extra-time at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Kampala on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Atlas Lions, winners in 2018 and 2020, will now face Madagascar in Saturday\u2019s final in Nairobi, after the island nation beat Sudan earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The defending champions struck first through Joseph Layousse, who rose highest in the 16th minute to head home from Libasse Gu\u00e8ye\u2019s corner. It was a deserved opener for Senegal, whose youthful side looked confident and well-organised in the early exchanges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Morocco hit back just seven minutes later. Sabir Bougrine unleashed a thunderous right-footed strike from outside the box that flew into the top corner, levelling the match at 1-1 and swinging momentum back to the two-time champions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both teams had chances before the break \u2014 Senegal\u2019s Layousse missed another header from close range, while Morocco\u2019s Anas Bach saw his effort saved by goalkeeper Marc Diouf \u2014 but neither side could add to the scoreline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second half was a cagey affair, with Morocco gradually seizing control of possession but Senegal looking threatening on set pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goalkeeper El Mehdi Al Harrar kept Morocco in the game with fine saves, notably from Joseph Layousse and Seyni Ndiaye, while Diouf stood tall at the other end to deny Youssef Mehri and Oussama Lamlaoui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As fatigue set in, both sides turned to their benches. Morocco introduced Ayoub Khairi and Salaheddine Errahouli, while Senegal added fresh legs in Insa Boye and Ababacar Sarr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Extra time produced frantic moments but no goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morocco came closest when Lamlaoui\u2019s header was tipped over by Diouf in the 119th minute, while Bonaventure Fonseca fired just over for Senegal seconds earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the match still locked at 1-1, penalties decided the contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morocco converted all five of their spot-kicks with composure: Hrimat, Lamlaoui, Khairi, Bach, and finally Mehri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senegal faltered when captain Seyni Ndiaye struck the crossbar with their opening effort, leaving them playing catch-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Vieux Ciss\u00e9, Baye Ciss, and Daouda Ba all scored, Morocco\u2019s perfect sequence proved decisive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Atlas Lions triumphed 5-3, booking their third CHAN final appearance in six years and ending Senegal\u2019s dream of back-to-back titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The semi-final had been billed as a clash between Morocco\u2019s tournament pedigree and Senegal\u2019s youthful energy \u2014 and it lived up to expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morocco showed resilience, experience, and discipline to weather Senegal\u2019s early dominance, while the West Africans displayed promise that suggests a bright future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coach Tarik Sektioui hailed his side\u2019s mentality: \u201cIt was a tough match against the defending champions, but the players showed composure in the key moments. We have fought hard to reach this stage, and now we want to win the trophy again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Senegal boss Souleymane Diallo, meanwhile, expressed pride despite the defeat: \u201cThis is a young generation writing its first chapter. They played with courage and discipline. Penalties are always cruel, but our future remains bright.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Morocco will now face surprise package Madagascar in Saturday\u2019s final at Nairobi\u2019s Moi Sports Centre Kasarani, while Senegal must regroup for the third-place playoff against Sudan in Dar es Salaam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Morocco, it is a chance to reclaim continental dominance and join the record books with a third CHAN title. For Senegal, the dream of defending their crown may have ended, but their youthful side left Kampala with dignity intact and optimism for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Morocco reached the final of the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2024 after overcoming holders Senegal 5-3 on penalties following a tense 1-1 draw after extra-time at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium in Kampala on Tuesday night. The Atlas Lions, winners in 2018 and 2020, will now face Madagascar in Saturday\u2019s final in Nairobi, after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[84,166,138,134,85],"class_list":["post-823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-chan-2024","tag-morocco","tag-pamoja","tag-senegal","tag-uganda-cranes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-150x150.png",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco.png",1000,671,false]},"categories_names":{"4":{"name":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?cat=4"}},"tags_names":{"84":{"name":"Chan 2024","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=chan-2024"},"166":{"name":"Morocco","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=morocco"},"138":{"name":"PAMOJA","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=pamoja"},"134":{"name":"Senegal","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=senegal"},"85":{"name":"Uganda Cranes","link":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/?tag=uganda-cranes"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-150x150.png",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-300x300.png",300,300,true],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-305x207.png",305,207,true],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-400x600.png",400,600,true],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-600x600.png",600,600,true],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco.png",1000,671,false],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco-130x95.png",130,95,true],"full":["https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Morocco.png",1000,671,false]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":825,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823\/revisions\/825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsnest.co.ug\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Senegal strike first, Morocco hit back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Tight second half and extra time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Penalty drama<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A clash of philosophies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Looking ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n