The final of the 2025 AFCON continues to spark debates across the continent. Guest on the show “Let’s Talk Straight: Who Wants to Kill AFCON?”, aired on the YouTube channel AFO Média, Patrick Mboma, former iconic striker for Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, provided a detailed analysis of the most controversial moments from this intense clash between Senegal and Morocco.
The ex-Paris Saint-Germain player first weighed in on the penalty awarded to Morocco in the dying minutes of regulation time, a decision that drew plenty of reactions. For Mboma, this refereeing decision was justified. He believes a foul was indeed committed on Brahim Diaz in the Senegalese box. “Brahim plays the game well. He knows he’s not a dominant player in aerial duels and in the box. As soon as he feels contact, even slight, he takes advantage to exaggerate the foul. But just because he amplifies the gesture doesn’t mean there wasn’t a foul,” he explained. For the former Cameroonian international, despite the sometimes theatrical nature of the Moroccan player, the penalty remains legitimate because an infraction led to the action.
However, Mboma’s analysis becomes more nuanced when he discusses the other key moment of the match: the disallowed goal for Senegal earlier in the game. On this point, he believes the referee should have validated the Senegalese goal, arguing that the alleged foul by Abdoulaye Seck on Achraf Hakimi was not actually substantiated. According to him, there was no clear infraction justifying the stoppage of play. “As soon as the referee blew the whistle for the foul, no matter what happens behind, the action is stopped. That’s the rule,” he emphasized. For Mboma, this decision is regrettable as it potentially influenced the course of such a decisive final.
While acknowledging the overall quality of refereeing throughout the match, Patrick Mboma stressed the interpretative margins that inevitably exist in such situations. In his view, every refereeing decision can have a major impact on the outcome of a match, especially in a continental final that is so tense and fiercely contested.
In the end, the former Cameroonian striker offers a balanced and thoughtful reading of the events, recognizing the legitimacy of some decisions while pointing out the mistakes that, in his view, may have created a sense of injustice. His comments illustrate once again how this final of the 2025 AFCON continues to provoke analysis, debate, and passion long after the final whistle.
