{"id":410039,"date":"2026-01-15T03:18:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T03:18:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410039\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T03:18:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T03:18:07","slug":"morocco-beat-nigeria-on-penalties-to-set-up-afcon-final-with-senegal-africa-cup-of-nations-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/410039\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco beat Nigeria on penalties to set up AFCON final with Senegal | Africa Cup of Nations News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morocco overcome Nigeria 4-2 on penalties, after the match finished 0-0 following extra time, to reach AFCON final.<\/p>\n

Published On 15 Jan 202615 Jan 2026<\/p>\n

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Yassine Bounou saved \u200dtwo penalties, and Youssef En-Nesyri netted the decisive spot kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shootout victory<\/a> over Nigeria following their 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semifinal in Rabat.<\/p>\n

Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 \u2060years, will face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday\u2019s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in \u200bthe third-place playoff a day before.<\/p>\n

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The 120 minutes before the shootout on Wednesday had few \u200dclear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created the greater opportunities, though they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali.<\/p>\n

Nigeria had the best scoring record in the competition coming into the semifinal, \u200dbut offered very \u2060little going forward in a limp display.<\/p>\n

And when Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi saw their tame penalties saved in the shootout, they were left to reflect on a performance that showed little ambition.<\/p>\n

Morocco were workmanlike and efficient as they have been all through the competition, even if they are still to find their best form.<\/p>\n

They are on the brink of a first continental crown since 1976, but their biggest challenge awaits in an impressive \u200bSenegal side who beat Egypt 1-0 thanks to Sadio Mane\u2019s winner in \u200cthe first semifinal in Tangier earlier on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The first half hour in Rabat was devoid of goalmouth chances until Achraf Hakimi\u2019s corner was headed into the path of Ayoub El Kaabi five yards from goal.<\/p>\n

But he was caught in two \u200cminds whether to turn and shoot or try an overhead kick, and in the end did neither as the chance was lost.<\/p>\n

\"Morocco'sMorocco\u2019s Youssef En-Nesyri reacts after scoring his penalty to win the penalty shootout [Siphiwe Sibeko\/Reuters]Morocco dominate chances as Nigeria fail to fire<\/p>\n

Morocco\u2019s Ismael \u200cSaibari showed excellent skill to work a shooting chance, but Nwabali \u2060was equal to his effort.<\/p>\n

He was by far the busier keeper in the game, but Morocco were mostly reduced to long-range efforts that proved comfortable enough to save.<\/p>\n

Nigeria had few opportunities, and when talisman Victor Osimhen did receive a pass in \u200cthe box, his touch was poor, and the rare chance was lost.<\/p>\n

Nayef Aguerd\u2019s header from a corner hit the outside of the post as the hosts went close, but penalties seemed inevitable well \u200dbefore the 120 minutes were up.<\/p>\n

And following Bounou\u2019s saves, En-Nesyri struck the decisive spot-kick to send his side into their first final since a 2004 loss to Tunisia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morocco overcome Nigeria 4-2 on penalties, after the match finished 0-0 following extra time, to reach AFCON final.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[5684,110410,49,48,527,1259,21130,44,5687,457,82],"class_list":["post-410039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-africa","tag-africa-cup-of-nations","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-football","tag-middle-east","tag-morocco","tag-news","tag-nigeria","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}