Wednesday, the 14th of January 2026 was semi-finals day in the on-going AFCON ’26 holding in Morocco. Because I am a Nigerian, the thought I had was that after the two semi-final clashes, Africa would be in again for an all-West African final match on Sunday 18th of January just as it did two years ago in Abidjan when Cote d’Ivoire hosted AFCON.
It was not necessarily a match prediction. Rather it was an awareness in me. Where it came from, I did not know. But it was strong in me, so strong that it refused to go nor leave me.
Perhaps it was because my instincts were only looking at current form, consistency, skills and determination and not what the “god of football” could do.
The two semi-final matches that were played on Wednesday were sequel to the results which came out from the quarter-finals matches that were played a few days earlier.
Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Cameroon, Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire were the eight teams that paraded themselves at the quarter-finals stage.
Thus from the initial 32 national football teams that assembled in Morocco on the 21st of December 2025 for the biggest football event in Africa, the reality that has now dawned on us all now in spite of our personal biases is that only two teams are still marching on towards the epic final match.
Host country Morocco will now meet Senegal in a two Lions clash that will bring the Atlas Lions of Morocco face to face with the Teranga Lions of Senegal. Since it will come up on Sunday we may not predict the outcome for now but instead, take a look at what happened on Wednesday night when the semi-finals matches were played.
Sadio Mane, the talismanic striker of Senegal, came up in the 78th minute of that great football encounter to power in a thunderbolt which neither El-Masherawi in goal for Egypt nor his defenders could do anything about. It was a classical goal that crowned the efforts of an inspirational player who had had a rather quiet but effective role to play in the on-going nations cup as a superstar.
For players in the mould of Sadio Mane, great strikes like the one he…produced on Wednesday night always do make them stand out as their teams’ playmakers, rather than ordinary team players.
Players like Sadio Mane do always and very single-handedly lift their teams up when it matters most.
Such qualities they have always do bring on to them the legendary status or super stardom they do always rise up to among their peers.
In that first semi-final match last Wednesday in Morocco, the two teams; Senegal and Egypt, expectedly played a cautious game that is always expected at that do-or-die stage. Some how, he Egyptian’s past failures against the team from Senegal made them tread even more cautiously. Teranga Lions have once expended the Pharaohs of Egypt and sent them to the cleaners in an AFCON final match.
Again, Senegal prevented the Egyptians from qualifying for the World Cup final in Qatar. Therefore, head-to-head, the Senegalese stood superior between the two. Thus Egypt needed to raise up their game strategy, an octave higher than they had done before. Consequently, they went into the semi-finals as underdogs.
In yesterday’s match, there was also this jinx factor that had over the years enveloped one man in the Egyptian team who is called Mo Salah. He is the team’s captain and also playmaker. He has been a formidable football star for about a decade producing international accolades, acknowledgements and recognitions all over Europe. But inspire of all these, his country has never won the continental AFCON championship under his captaincy, not even when Egypt hosted the event. The jinx has continued to manifest even in this his fourth appearance in Morocco.
Salah was a few years ago team-mate of Sadio Mane at Liverpool FC in the English Premier League. They have known themselves a lot even up to their team’s abilities and also weaknesses. This is and perhaps why Mane’s Senegal had the edge over Egypt last Wednesday.
In the second semi-final match Nigeria squared it up with Morocco. It was one match in which the Moroccans had a slight edge over their opponent. This was in spite of the Eagles dominance of the five earlier matches they had played and which had seen them score 14 goals. Also the fact that they had a compact and very coherent team in defence, mid-field and in attack, was not in doubt. But their opponents, Morocco had a 12th player in that match on the rampage. He was all over the terraces of the Abdallah stadium in Rabat. That “12th player” — the voicefellows crowd had a potency to deflate the confidence of many a great player. If he did not show that ability in 120 minutes of play, he certainly did so during the penalty shoot-out. The two teams (Super Eagles and the Atlas Lions) played their semi-final match with so much respect for each other. Caution was not thrown to the wind for once, but held on to very seriously all through by the two teams. This was why the match went into extra time. While none of the two dominated the game of play, the Moroccans were more aggressive and atempted to score goal more than the Nigerians. Despite their brilliant effort the Nigerian trio of Osimehn, Akor and Lookman could not click as a dominant attacking line on that semi- final night.
Ball supply to them was tactically cut off in style. If we must assess the game very well the Atlas Lions had a 52-48% edge over the Eagles. How many shots or goal attempts were on target throughout the 120 minutes? Only a few.
This is why one finds it difficult to trend along with the thinking of some Nigerians that the centre refree was partial in favour of Morocco. That could not have been so. No instance in the 120 minutes game suggested so? Some talk of the yellow card issued to Calvin Bassey. We ask, did he not commit the offence? Did the yellow card stop Calvin from standing tall and authoritative as he did in the Nigerian defence?
We must learn to accept our fate in circumstances like this and not be wonto apportioning blame.
This brings me to what I spoke of as the “god of football concept or factor”.
The Nation Cup Finals history has it that Morocco’s only victory was in 1976. The country hosted MAROC’ 88 but lost. In 2004 it lost out again in the final match.. Every two years Morocco invade the AFCON to try their best but have always been edged out. For 50 years after its only victory in 1976, Morocco has never touched the trophy. Yet it has continued to support the improvement and development of the game of football. Now should the god of football continue to deny Morocco victory, after 50 years? Would you not appraise the matter if your country fell into such a dilemma? Would you not appeal to that ” “god of football” to be kind to you for once because of all your contributions?
This is the reality that should dawn on us all as l write about a concept called the god of football. For what it is, let us deduce it from the stories and illustrations l make here.
Two years ago Cote D’Ivoire started off badly as host but won the AFCON. For many years that county remained an under performer in AFCON as it’s records shows. Victory came to the Ivoriens for the first ever time at Senegal ’92. It was after nearly 30 years of trying. Secondly, when their jinxed captain Didier Drogba led a then stars-studded Elephannts for almost a generation, he could not lift the trophy as captain. But his deputy Yahya Toure only came to pick it for Cote D’Ivoire for a second time in 2015. That was after 23 years of constant efforts. Two years ago, after a nine year lull, Cote Divoire hosted and won, despite a very poor early start. As host, they got to the final and won the trophy a third time by beating Nigeria 2-1 that year.
I must say it is that very special god of football which I had failed to acknowledge nor reckon with when I assumed and pronounced earlier that next Sunday’s final match would be an all West African affair. Now the concept of “god of football” has bore its fangs and we have now known that next Sunday is going to be a West Africa vrs North Africa football clash. Certainly it will not be like two years ago when it was Nigeria vrs Cote D’Ivoire in an all black West Africa duel. We wish the two remaining teams in the competition the best. But the concept of god of football makes us believe here that Senegal may have and so produce the talent and skills and competence to deliver as a compact team. But “the god of football” will prevail to support Morocco who has put in so much to develop the game.The North African country has improved its football culture and status consistently in the last 50 years or so. That country has done so much that today it is the best team in Africa, having done so well at the Qatar World Cup Finals where it reached the semi-finals stage, becoming the first African nation to get that far in world football.This is why this Sunday the 18th of January we strongly believe the “god of football” will among other factors like, quality stadia, good football tactics, effective coaching, and generally loud support, move on to win the cup for Morocco.
Football fans, this is our prediction. It is based on the assumption that the “god of football” is never asleep. It is alway a rewarder of nations or football teams that dare to make a statements in the development of the game even in spite of repeated frustrations that may have confronted them over the time. For sure a classical football game awaits us all on Sunday the 18th of January.
- Smolette Adetoyese Shittu-Alamu, veteran journalist, writes from Osogbo.
