Yassine Bounou’s two saves and Youssef En-Nesyri’s decisive spot kick against Nigeria secured Morocco a place in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final for the first time since 2004.
Nigeria and Morocco played out a tightly contested encounter, with both sides unable to break the deadlock after 90 minutes and extra time.
The match was decided by a penalty shootout, where the Atlas Lions edged the Super Eagles 4–2.
Nigeria’s Stanley Nwabali and Bounou were both tested under immense pressure, but Bonou’s composure and decisive saves proved crucial. Nwabali saved one penalty, while Bounou stopped two of Nigeria’s attempts.
Misses from Samuel Chukwueze and Bruno Onyemaechi proved costly for Nigeria, while Morocco converted confidently through El Aynaoui, Ben Seghir, and Achraf Hakimi, with En-Nesyri scoring the decisive penalty to seal their place in the final despite Hamza Igamane missing their second spot kick.
Paul Onuachu and Bruno Onyemaechi scored their spotkicks for Nigeria, but they were not enough.
Morocco have not won the AFCON since 1976 and will be hoping to lift the trophy on home soil. This is only their second appearance in the final, while their eventual opponents, Senegal, have reached the final four times but won the tournament once, in 2022.
Meanwhile, Nigeria will face Egypt on Saturday for the third-place playoff in Casablanca.
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