Senegal wasted no time firing back, using their official social media platforms to dismiss the administrative ruling and reaffirm their status as continental kings.

“Forever the First,” the federation wrote alongside a photo of the squad hoisting the hardware, a clear jab at the CAF Appeal Board’s decision to award Morocco a retrospective 3-0 forfeit victory.

Supporters have largely condemned CAF‘s intervention, which comes nearly two months after Senegal secured a 1-0 extra-time win in a match marred by a chaotic 15-minute player walk-off.

Senegal stars unleash social media firestorm

Midfielder Pathe Ciss was among the most vocal, adopting a sarcastic tone to mock the notion that an administrative scoreline could erase the physical reality of their victory.

“You can add three goals in favor of the whiners, but we are the 2025 CHAMPIONS of Africa,” Ciss posted, accompanied by laughing emojis.

Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra added to the defiance, sharing Snapchat footage of the team’s celebratory parade through Dakar alongside images of his winner’s medal.

Senegal vow legal battle at the Court of Arbitration for Sport

The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) formalized their resistance Wednesday, confirming they will escalate the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

“The Senegalese Football Federation denounces this unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision, which discredits African football,” the FSF stated. “The federation will initiate an immediate appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to protect the integrity of our sporting achievement.“

“The CAF Appeal Board has determined that, in accordance with Article 84 of the AFCON Regulations, the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the 2025 Final Match,“ the statement read on their official website.

The ruling effectively vacates the Teranga Lions’ second continental title and award the host nation, Morocco, a retrospective 3-0 victory.

While Senegal originally triumphed 1-0 in extra time, the Appeal Board found their temporary refusal to play following a controversial VAR decision constituted a formal abandonment of the match.

The AFCON 2025 final retrospective

Referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded a controversial 98th-minute penalty to the host nation following a VAR review. The decision sparked immediate outrage from the Senegalese bench, as they stood on the verge of either a clean sheet or a heartbreaking defeat in regulation.

The Senegalese squad initially staged a 16-minute walk-off protest, retreating to the tunnel before Sadio Mane eventually persuaded his teammates to return to the pitch.

With the game’s fate on the line, Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz stepped up for the spot-kick, but his audacious “Panenka” attempt was easily smothered by Edouard Mendy, forcing the match into extra time.

Pape Gueye eventually found the net in the 94th minute to secure what appeared to be Senegal’s second continental crown, but that victory has since been rendered moot. In a landmark ruling issued today, the CAF Appeal Board overturned the result.

Africa is a big continent, much bigger than Europe, therefore the qualifiers in Africa are slightly more complicated than others. The first round of the qualifiers in African are defined in two legs, while some top teams get a direct bye to the second round thanks to their FIFA ranking.

The top ten favorites from Africa to qualify for Qatar 2022 was a strong list of teams that included Egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, among others. The qualifiers were defined between them, with a couple of exceptions since they were eliminated in the second round.

African national teams qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup

All five qualified African teams were among the big favorites, but Algeria and Nigeria were left out of Qatar 2022 after they lost in the third round. Another big team like Egypt could not do anything to stop Senegal.

1. Senegal: Sadio Mane led the Lions of Teranga during the qualifiers, their record in the second round was 5-1-0 and 16 points. They won in the third round against Egypt 1-3 on penalty kicks.

2. Cameroon: The game against Algeria was tough for The Indomitable Lions (Cameroon’s nickname), but the victory for the team in the third round was thanks to the aggregate 2-2 as the first leg was a 0-1 loss against Algeria and the second leg ended 2-1 in extra time.

3. Ghana: Ghana’s first leg against Nigeria left the door open for heavier second leg play in the third round, but in the end the second leg also ended in a 1-1 draw and Ghana won their Qatar 2022 ticket. by aggregate score.

4. Morocco: The Atlas Lions were deadly in the second leg game to win their world cup spot against DR Congo who was being managed by well-known Argentine head coach, Hector Cuper, but Marocco won the second leg 4-1 and crushed DR Congo.

5. Tunisia: For the second consecutive time that Tunisia has qualified for a World Cup, a 1-0 win in the first leg against Mali and a 0-0 draw in the second leg was enough for the Eagles of Carthage to qualify for Qatar 2022.

The list of African teams qualified to play in Qatar 2022:

1. Senegal
2. Cameroon
3. Ghana
4. Morocco
5. Tunisia

The battle continues for United Arab Emirates, they need to win this game at all costs to stay strong in the 3th sport and advance to the fourth round of the AFC qualifiers. The team has a negative record with 2-3-4 and 9 points.

South Korea were dominant in the Third Round with 7-2-0 overall and 23 points, only two teams had such dominant records in the AFC qualifiers, the others being the Iranians with 22 points and 7-1-1.

United Arab Emirates vs South Korea: Date

United Arab Emirates and South Korea play for the 2022 AFC World Cup Qualifiers Third Round on Tuesday, March 29 at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai. The home team must play the same way they did against the visitors on November 11, 2021, they lost that game 0-1 but the defensive strategy was effective.

United Arab Emirates vs South Korea: Time by state in the US

ET: 9:45 AM
CT: 8:45 AM
MT: 7:45 AM
PT: 6:45 AM

TV Channel in the US to watch United Arab Emirates vs South Korea at the 2022 AFC World Cup Qualifiers Third Round

This game for the 2022 AFC World Cup Qualifiers Third Round, United Arab Emirates and South Korea at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Tuesday, March 29, will be broadcast in the US by Paramount+

Nigeria could not do anything to score during the first leg game of the third round, they dominated the game slightly but the defense of the rivals knew how to stop the Nigerian attack.

Ghana have an inferior offense to Nigeria as they scored only seven goals during the second round of the 2022 CAF World Cup Qualifiers, while Nigeria scored 9 goals with the same winning record of 4-1-1 win.

Nigeria vs Ghana: Date

Nigeria and Ghana play for the 2022 CAF World Cup Qualifiers Third Round on Tuesday, March 29 at Abuja National Stadium in Abuja. The key to this game will be the defensive power of each team after scoring, whichever team scores the first goal of the game must stand firm to defend their side.

Nigeria vs Ghana: Time by state in the US

ET: 1:00 PM
CT: 12:00 PM
MT: 11:00 AM
PT: 10:00 AM

TV Channel in the US to watch Nigeria vs Ghana at the 2022 CAF World Cup Qualifiers Third Round

This game for the 2022 CAF World Cup Qualifiers Third Round, Nigeria and Ghana at the Abuja National Stadium in Abuja on Tuesday, March 29, will be broadcast in the US by ESPN+.

Within CAF there are nations well-known by soccer fans such as Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Algeria and Ivory Coast. Those are the countries that usually have a good team to play in the World Cup.

The CAF format is somewhat complex due to the large number of teams that make up the confederation, but at the end of the day most of the teams do not go beyond the first round where most of the nations with poor performance are cut.

How many teams will qualify from Africa for the World Cup?

CAF offers 5 slots for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the five nations that will play in Qatar are the last 10 teams that play in the last round of the CAF Qualifiers, the teams play two legs and the winner of the fixture gets a ticket to the World Cup.

How many stages do the World Cup Qualifiers have in Africa?

Three stages called rounds that are directly affected by the FIFA World Rankings since in the first round those teams that are ranked between the 27th spot and 54th within the African confederation according to the FIFA Rankings play. The first 1-26 receive a bye to the second round which is made up of 10 groups. In the third and last round, the winners of the groups in the second round play for qualification to Qatar 2022.

When will the CAF Third Round games be played?

The first leg games in the Third Round of the CAF World Cup Qualifiers 2022 start between March 24 and 26, 2022, while the second leg games are played between March 27 and 29 of the same year. The dates are not set yet but it is highly likely that the fixtures will be played in March.

The European Club Association (ECA) has threatened with not releasing their players to the continental competition over concerns for the rising cases of the new Covid variant Omicron.

Over 40 African players who perform in the Old Continent would be affected by that stance, including Liverpool superstars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. With the tournament drawing nearer, it’s a situation that needs to be resolved fast.

European Club Association concerned ahead of Africa Cup of Nations

The ECA sent a letter to FIFA‘s Deputy Secretary Mattias Grafstrom showing their concern for the health protocols that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) would implement during the contest, emphasizing on three aspects clubs consider significant in order to release their players.

“First and foremost, the clubs’ duty to ensure each and every player’s wellbeing is properly protected; second, that clubs are not forced to be without players for club competition matches; third, that all players resume their activities with their clubs following national duty in a timely fashion, as per the applicable rules,” the ECA statement read.

This has raised speculation around a possible postponement of the competition, something that people inside the CAF have immediatelydenied. ESPN got in touch with CAF’shead of media relations, Luxolo September, who said: “Our position is very clear. AFCON will be in Cameroon in January 2022. The opening match will be played on Jan. 9. [There have been] no discussions [about postponement], and there are zero contingency plans.”

The Africa Cup of Nations, which wasoriginally expected to take place between June and July 2021, will be played from January 9 to February 6, 2022, in Cameroon. The last edition, held in Egypt in 2019, saw Algeria emerge as champions.