Senegal vs Morocco Preview: Team News & Prediction
by Alex Lawes ·
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The CAF Africa Cup of Nations final sees two of the pre-tournament favourites, Senegal and hosts Morocco, play out a deserved final in Rabat in what will be a nervy affair.
Kick-off date/time:
How to watch on TV: UK – Matches will be televised across the Channel 4 network / USA – beIN Sports
How to watch online: UK – All 4 & Channel 4 Sport YouTube / USA – beIN Sports Connect & Fubo
Senegal preview: Strong Senegal
Senegal come into this one on the back of a very steady performance in the semi-finals the other day as they defeated Egypt by a goal to nil, courtesy of a 78th minute winner scored by former Liverpool attacker Sadio Mane.
The Lions of Teranga have been one of the strongest teams in Africa for much of the last half a decade or so, having won this competition in 2022 in the same year in which they reached the round of 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Morocco preview: Strong Morocco
At that FIFA World Cup in Qatar, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of the global event and the Atlas Lions are perhaps even better than that, unbeaten in their last 32 FIFA recognised fixtures since an AFCON R16 defeat in 2024.
The Moroccans have eased through most games in this tournament but were perhaps fortunate in their defeat of Nigeria in the semi-finals the other day, requiring a penalty shootout to see off the Super Eagles after 120 goalless minutes.
Senegal team news: Couple of suspensions
Both Kalidou Koulibaly and Habib Diarra were booked in the semi-final and are now missing through suspension for this final, albeit the former may well have missed out due to injury anyway.
Predicted XI (4-3-3): E. Mendy; Diatta, Seck, Niakhate, E. Diouf; Camara, I. Gueye, P. Gueye; Ndiaye, Jackson, Mane
Unavailable: Koulibaly (Suspended), Diarra (Suspended)
Questionable:
Morocco team news: Ounahi still likely to be unavailable
Girona midfielder Azzedine Ounahi has been pushing his way back to full fitness but he remains a major doubt, with Roma’s Neil El Aynaoui having been excellent in his position instead.
Predicted XI (4-1-4-1): Bono; Hakimi, Aguerd, Masina, Mazraoui; El Aynaoui; Brahim Diaz, El Khannouss, Saibari, Abde Ez; El Kaabi
Unavailable:
Questionable: Ounahi (Injured)
Senegal vs Morocco prediction
The depth of Moroccan football has become extremely impressive and they will expect to go deep into this summer’s FIFA World Cup, too. With a spine of Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Idrissa Gueye and Sadio Mane; Senegal have had an ageing squad but they remain extremely impressive. This is likely to be a low-scoring one but it does appear to be Morocco’s destiny from recent years to finally end a 50-year trophy drought, especially considering they haven’t lost a home game since 2009.
Senegal vs Morocco tip: Morocco to win & under 3.5 goals
