Half-time reading

This, from Daniel Harris, is sheer delightful sports writing.

45+4 min Ndiaye produces some tricky footwork to find Camara in the D. He has Pape Gueye in a much better position to his left but goes for goal himself and has a shot blocked.

Morocco break and Saibari has a shot blocked at the other end.

45 min Jackson leads a Senegal break and finds Mane to his left. He cuts across Aguerd in the area and is preparing to shoot when El Aynaoui gets back to put the ball behind for a corner. Excellent defensive-midfield play.

There will be four minutes of added time.

43 min Saibari is about to shoot from the edge of the area when Camara makes a cracking sliding challenge. Saibari catches Camara in the face as he falls, though it was accidental.

41 min: Chance for Morocco! Make that two of the best three chances. The superb Ezzalzouli wriggles away from Mane and curls a marvellous, almost nonchalant inswinging cross towards Aguerd eight yards out. He tries a glancing header but doesn’t make contact and the ball drifts past the far post.

39 min I’d say Morocco have been the better team in general play but the two best chances, by far, have fallen to Senegal.

36 min See 22 min.

33 min Mazraoui is fouled on the left wing by Ndiaye. Ezzalzouli’s free-kick is woefully overhit and goes behind for a Senegal goalkick.

31 min Lots of safe, meaningless passing, particularly from Senegal. This already has the whiff of extra time and.

28 min Lamine Camara hits a free-kick straight out of play. Senegal have been poor going forward.

26 min “Watching the match with three generations of family, nerves already shot to pieces,” writes Yacine Semmar. “Go Morocco!”

Wait until it goes to penalties.

24 min Lamine Camara is booked for a late tackle on El Aynaoui in midfield. Morocco are having the better of the game just now, though there isn’t a huge amount in it.

22 min This game needs a goal.

20 min Idrissa Gueye loses the ball in midfield. Morocco break and Saibari, clearly offside, misses a one-on-one anyway.

17 min Ezzalzouli, Morocco’s left winger, has been the liveliest attacker so far. Brahim DIaz has been quieter on the other side.

14 min Moments later Saibari runs to the edge of the Senegal area before slashing well wide with his left foot.

13 min Ezzalzouli waves a nice pass to the underlapping Saibari, whose cross on the run is cut out at the near post. It’s been a decent start to the game.

12 min Free-kick to Senegal on the left wing, 40-odd yards from goal. Diouf’s cross brushes the head of the leaping Mamadou Sarr and drifts out of play.

8 min Ezzalzouli scoots away from Antoine Mendy on the left and slides a low cross that is booted away at the far post by Diouf.

6 min I’m not certain Pape Gueye’s effort was even on target. He headed it back across goal rather than into the sizeable gap between Bounou and the near post. It was a glorious chance.

5 min: Big chance for Senegal! Mane hurtles down the left to win a corner. It’s curled beyond the far post and met by Pape Gueye, whose header is kept out desperately by Bounou! It was a fine stop, especially becauise he originally misjudged the flight of the ball, but Gueye really should have scored.

4 min A cautious start, as you’d expect. Morocco in particular are moving their pawns around without risk.

2 min I forgot to say that Mamadou Sarr, who plays tonight due to Kalidou Koulibaly’s suspension, is the son of Pape Sarr – who himself missed the 2002 Afcon final through suspension. It’s a game, it’s old, and it’s funny.

1 min Peep peep! Morocco, in their white change strip (don’t ask), kick off from right to left as we watch.

After a spectacular rendition of the Moroccan anthem, it’s time for the main event: the Afcon 2025 final.

Yes I know it’s 18 January 2026, what’s your point? Don’t split hairs with me because I’ve had it with you.

A follow-up from James Humphries (see below)

I cleared my diary* to watch both semis, proving that despite this world-weary affect I am in fact the last of the romantics, or possibly just very bad at pattern recognition.

* not, admittedly, a Herculean task (as it were)

The Senegal right-back Krepin Diatta was injured in the warm-up, hence Antoine Mendy’s inclusion. I can’t comprehend how painful it must be for a player to miss out on the biggest game of their life in such circumstances.

“Hi Rob,” writes James Humphries. “Having specifically timed a journey across the central belt so that I should make it back home in time for the start of the game, if the first ten minutes are fantastic and then it turns into something like either of the two semis you’ll know I got in late.

”Egypt-Cote d’Ivoire was such a fun game, too! ‘Maybe Egypt have unconstipated themselves’ I thought optimistically on Thursday, until the first moment one of their players got near a Senegalese shirt and immediately hurled himself to the ground. So, about five minutes into the game?”

You made it home in time for that one then?

Morocco’s route to the final

• Group A Comoros 2-0, Mali 1-1, Zambia 3-0

• Last 16 Tanzania 1-0

• Quarter-final Cameroon 2-0

• Semi-final Nigeria 0-0 (4-2 pens)

The only goal Morocco have conceded was a penalty by Mali’s Lassine Sinayoko

Senegal’s route to the final

• Group D Botswana 3-0, DR Congo 1-1, Benin 3-0

• Last 16 Sudan 3-1

• Quarter-final Mali 1-0

• Semi-final Egypt 1-0

Senegal’s 12 goals have been spread throughout the team, with eight different goalscorers.

Sometimes a tournament’s greatest strength can be its greatest weakness. In part because of the excellent playing conditions, this has been an Africa Cup of Nations devoid of shocks. The better teams keep winning. There has been a lot of good football, but not a huge amount of memorable football.

And the consequence is that, in the final, we have the two best teams, or certainly the best team in north Africa against the best team in sub-Saharan Africa: the hosts and World Cup semi-finalists Morocco against Senegal, who have reached three of the past four Afcon finals.