AFCON 2025 Semifinals: Morocco and Senegal Advance on a Quiet Night, Egypt and Nigeria Chase Bronze
15 January 2026
Semifinals deliver a historic low
When the net finally fell silent.
The Africa Cup of Nations 2025 semifinals, staged in Morocco, produced a historic, arguably catastrophic statistic never before seen at this stage of the tournament.
Egypt were edged by Senegal 1-0 in Tangier's Ibn Battouta Stadium, in the semifinal tie played on Wednesday night.
Morocco, meanwhile, booked a place in the final on penalties after a 0-0 draw with Nigeria, prevailing 4-2 in the shootout.
As a result, Egypt will meet Nigeria on Saturday for third place, while Senegal will face Morocco in Sunday's final.
Stats Foot, the football statistics site, reported that the semifinals produced only a single goal, the lowest tally ever recorded in this stage.
Egypt will chase third place for the first time since 1984, when they lost 3-1 to Algeria in Abidjan.
Punchline: If defense could score, they’d file a restraining order against the ball.
Punchline 2: The nets went on strike too — apparently even goalposts needed a nap.
