Brahim Diaz’s AFCON heartbreak: Morocco star’s missed penalty explained

It was the cruelest moment of the 2025 AFCON. In the final against Senegal in Rabat, Brahim Diaz stepped up to take the penalty that could have given Morocco its first continental title since 1976 — 50 years of waiting summed up in a single gesture. He chose the Panenka. The goalkeeper dived and saved it. Silence fell over the entire stadium.

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Eduardo Dominguez, physical trainer of the Atlas Lions, told El Larguero what happened in the following hours. “The players went straight back to their rooms, crushed by the confusion and silence. No one knew what to say.” His last image of Diaz that night was at the airport, visibly broken. “There isn’t much you can say to someone carrying that kind of weight in his head,” he admitted.

Yet nothing erases what Diaz achieved in this tournament. Five goals, decisive performances in every round, and a Morocco team that had been unbeaten for 32 matches before that night. He had carried his team to Morocco’s first final since 2004, finishing as one of the tournament’s best players.

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The final will also be remembered for incidents caused by Senegalese supporters — pitch invasions, projectile throwing, and property damage. The Rabat court has since sentenced 18 of them to prison terms ranging from 3 months to 1 year. CAF, for its part, suspended Senegalese coach Pape Bouna Thiaw for five matches and fined him 100,000 dollars.

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