Bundesliga at AFCON: Trio through to Sunday’s final

Hosts Morocco and 2021 winners Senegal will contest the final of the 35th African Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Sunday.

All the remaining three Bundesliga-based players make it into the final at AFCON as Senegal and Morocco are through after hard-fought wins over Egypt and Nigeria, respectively. Both semi-finals lacked clear-cut chances with the sides separated by the narrowest of margins.

Senegal booked their place in the earlier game at the expense of the record winners with a moment of individual brilliance from Sadio Mané twelve minutes from time. The former Bayern Munich winger scored from outside of the box for his 11th goal in the history of the competition.

Nicolas Jackson had the game’s first chance in a cagey first-half between the two giants. The Bayern striker regained his starting berth after he was an unused sub in the quarter-final victory over Mali by the same scoreline. It was the third time in the last four editions that Senegal went all the way into the final. The defeat to Cameroon in the 2002 final was the only other incident before the recent turn of events.

Similarly, Morocco will dream of their second triumph at the continental stage. The hosts limited the free-scoring Nigerian team to just one shot on target in 120 minutes, but they weren’t enterprising themselves. In the end, a penalty shootout win ensured Morocco secured a place in the final for the first time since 2004.

Morocco’s only AFCON triumph came in Ethiopia 50 years ago. Bayer Leverkusen’s Eliesse Ben Seghir was once again a late substitute for the Atlas Lions, but his converted penalty was crucial after both teams missed their second attempts. Morocco won the tense encounter 4-2 after yet another miss by Nigeria before sudden death. Stuttgart’s Bilal El Khannouss played 85 minutes for the finalists.

With the then-Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastian Haller scoring a fairytale winner, Côte d’Ivoire ended the curse of the host nation in 2023 when they became the first national team to win the tournament on home soil since 2006. Morocco will hope to repeat that feat on Sunday, although Senegal’s recent record in the competition would promise another tense encounter. 

The Lions of Teranga will not have the services of the captain Kalidou Koulibaly and Sunderland’s midfielder Habib Diarra due to suspensions. In addition to the two players with Bayern connection, former Köln academy graduate Ismael Jakobs is part of Senegal’s squad. Morocco’s captain and current “African Best Player of the Year” Achraf Hakimi was a former Borussia Dortmund player, while the other starting fullback Noussair Mazraoui had a stint at the Rekordmeister.