Senegal midfielder Pape Gueye has admitted that his team made a mistake when they briefly walked off the pitch during the Africa Cup of Nations final, after Morocco were awarded a late penalty.
Gueye spoke in an interview on French television on Sunday, January 25, 2026, as he reflected on the controversial ending to the championship match between Senegal, a West African nation, and Morocco, a North African country.
Okay News reports that the final was played in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, and ended 1-0 after extra time, with Gueye scoring the decisive goal as Senegal edged Morocco in a tense contest.
The match was disrupted near the end of normal time when Morocco were given a penalty. The decision triggered angry reactions from Senegal’s players, who left the field in protest, causing a delay of about 20 minutes before play resumed.
Gueye said the team later realised they had handled the situation poorly.
“We are only human, we realised our mistake and came back out,” the 26-year-old midfielder said.
“Anyone can make a mistake,” he added.
After Senegal returned to the pitch, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz took the penalty but missed, with reports saying he attempted a Panenka style kick, a delicate chip down the middle that can look spectacular when it works but often draws criticism when it fails.
Gueye said he was surprised Diaz chose that approach at such a critical moment.
“It was daring, and I would not have risked that myself,” he said.
The match then went to extra time, where Gueye scored the winning goal to seal Senegal’s title.
He also suggested Senegal’s frustration had been building, noting that the team felt hard done by moments earlier when a goal was ruled out for what was described as a soft foul.
Gueye reserved special praise for Senegal star Sadio Mane, a leading figure in the national team and a former Liverpool attacker from the English Premier League in the United Kingdom, for helping calm tensions during the standoff.
According to Gueye, Mane stayed on the field and encouraged teammates to return so the game could continue.
“He found the right thing to say at the right moment, and it shows just how important he is to us,” Gueye said.
“We owe him a big thank you.”
The fallout from the incident is still unfolding. The Moroccan Football Federation, the national body that oversees football in Morocco, has formally reported the walk-off and the behaviour of some supporters to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), which runs the Africa Cup of Nations, and to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the global governing body of football.
