Africa Cup of Nations final preview: The Premier League and European stars involved as Senegal and Morocco battle for glory

It is the third time that Senegal have reached the showpiece event in the past four editions of the tournament and they will be hoping to reclaim the title they won after beating Egypt in 2021.

Despite Senegal’s recent deep runs in the competition, their 2021 success was their first.

Morocco have also been victorious on one occasion, meaning one of these teams will claim the continental crown for the second time.

Let’s take a look at how the teams have fared in the tournament so far and which Premier League and European stars will be involved in the showdown.

Path to the final

Pape Thiaw’s Senegal then beat Sudan to reach the last eight, where they just about overcame 10-man Mali in a 1-0 win, following Tottenham Hotspur’s Yves Bissouma’s red card.

Morocco ousted Tanzania at their home ground, the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, in a 1-0 round-of-16 win before reaching the last four with a comprehensive victory over Cameroon.

Mohamed Salah’s long wait for an AFCON title went on as his Egypt side were dumped out by Senegal, with Salah’s former Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane finding the winner to fire his nation into the final.

Sadio Mane has been the key man again for Senegal at AFCON.

Image credit: Getty Images

Morocco needed penalties in order to move past Victor Osimhen’s Nigeria to book their place in the final for the first time since 2004.

Record in finals

The last time Morocco were in the final – 22 years ago – they were beaten 2-1 by Tunisia.

They have only been in the final on two occasions, the defeat to Tunisia in 2004 and their victory 50 years ago in 1976 – but there was a twist.

In that edition, four teams from two groups qualified for a round-robin style final group, which Morocco topped ahead of Guinea, Nigeria and Egypt. Could Morocco win it once more, half a century later?

Senegal reached their first final in 2002, where they fell to defeat against Cameroon on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

They had to wait 17 years to reach the showpiece again, with their two other final appearances having all come in the past seven years.

Defeat came against Algeria in 2019 because of Baghdad Bounedjah’s second-minute goal before a penalty shoot-out victory over Egypt two years later with Mane the hero.

Head-to-head

It will only be the fourth time these two sides have met.

Their first meeting came in 2011 during a friendly, when goals from Houssine Kharja and Youssef El Arabi earned a 2-0 win for Eric Gerets’s Morocco in Senegal.

Fast-forward nine years, El Arabi was on the scoresheet again as they reunited in 2020 for another friendly, where Morocco once again reigned supreme, as Selim Amallah and Youssef En-Nesyri also found the net.

Their most recent encounter came last summer in the African Nations Championship. A 1-1 draw was played out as Sabir Bougrine cancelled out Layousse Samb’s opener for Senegal, before Morocco snatched the win on penalties to reach the final, where they triumphed over Madagascar for their third title.

The head-to-head score is 2-1 but Morocco no doubt have the bragging rights.

Everton duo among Premier League interest

Both teams are littered with Premier League stars, past and present, and other big-name players across Europe.

Senegal’s main man Mane leads a notable front line, which includes former Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson and Everton star Iliman Ndiaye.

Mane has bagged two goals and grabbed two assists this campaign – including the winner against Egypt in the semi-final – while Jackson has contributed with two goals, which both came against Botswana in the group stages.

Ndiaye has played a bit-part role but scored the decisive goal against Mali in the quarter-final and kept his place in the team for the semi-final against Egypt.

Ruthless Rabiot wraps up win for Milan – but should goalkeeper do better?

Video credit: TNT Sports

Elsewhere, Ndiaye’s Everton team-mate Idrissa Gana Gueye plays in the Senegal midfield, while another former Chelsea man, Edouard Mendy, is in between the sticks, while West Ham’s Malick Diouf, Chelsea’s Mamadou Sarr and Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr are all involved.

Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz has been electric for Morocco and leads the goalscoring charts with the golden boot pretty much his, unless Ayoub El Kaabi scores at least twice in the final, or Mane or Jackson net a hat-trick.

Diaz scored in every group game and improved his goalscoring run to five matches in a row with strikes in the last 16 and quarter-final against Tanzania and Cameroon.

Also in their ranks is Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Champions League winner Achraf Hakimi, who returned from a lengthy ankle injury during Morocco’s run to the final.

Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui has started at left-back in every game so far, while Olympiacos striker El Kaabi will no doubt pose a threat after scoring three times in the group stages – which included two sensational bicycle kicks.

Former Leicester City playmaker Bilal El Khannouss will start, with ex-West Ham defender Nayef Aguerd deployed at centre-back.