Morocco's Regragui Blames Afcon Final on 'Shameful' Thiaw Behavior as Senegal Claim Title in Chaos.
Morocco's head coach Walid Regragui fired back at his Senegalese counterpart Pape Thiaw after the Africa Cup of Nations final descended into chaos, branding Thiaw's actions "shameful" and accusing him of bringing shame on African football. The bitter fallout followed a dramatic penalty shootout in which Morocco's Brahim Díaz missed the decisive kick, allowing Senegal to claim their first Afcon title.
Regragui, still reeling from his team's collapse, laid the blame squarely at Thiaw's feet, saying "The image we've given of Africa is shameful. A coach who asks his players to leave the field … What Pape did does not honour Africa." Regragui also expressed frustration with Díaz's mistake, stating that the Moroccan had hit the penalty kick with such force it might as well have been a "Hitchcockian script". Despite the loss, Morocco's team has enjoyed a remarkable 26-game unbeaten run since their World Cup semi-final appearance.
The controversy surrounding Thiaw's behavior in the final was evident in the press conference that followed, which was marred by arguments between Senegalese and Moroccan journalists. The confrontation escalated to the point where Thiaw himself stormed out of the room, leaving his Senegalese counterparts to celebrate their historic title. Regragui seemed more focused on defending his own team's honor, however, stating that in football "you need to come back strong, you need to accept what has happened, you need to be humble and you need to work to do it, inshallah".
The Afcon final will undoubtedly go down as one of the most dramatic and divisive matches in recent African Cup of Nations history. As Senegal celebrated their title, Regragui's words hung in the air like a challenge – would he ever recover from this ignominious defeat?
Morocco's head coach Walid Regragui fired back at his Senegalese counterpart Pape Thiaw after the Africa Cup of Nations final descended into chaos, branding Thiaw's actions "shameful" and accusing him of bringing shame on African football. The bitter fallout followed a dramatic penalty shootout in which Morocco's Brahim Díaz missed the decisive kick, allowing Senegal to claim their first Afcon title.
Regragui, still reeling from his team's collapse, laid the blame squarely at Thiaw's feet, saying "The image we've given of Africa is shameful. A coach who asks his players to leave the field … What Pape did does not honour Africa." Regragui also expressed frustration with Díaz's mistake, stating that the Moroccan had hit the penalty kick with such force it might as well have been a "Hitchcockian script". Despite the loss, Morocco's team has enjoyed a remarkable 26-game unbeaten run since their World Cup semi-final appearance.
The controversy surrounding Thiaw's behavior in the final was evident in the press conference that followed, which was marred by arguments between Senegalese and Moroccan journalists. The confrontation escalated to the point where Thiaw himself stormed out of the room, leaving his Senegalese counterparts to celebrate their historic title. Regragui seemed more focused on defending his own team's honor, however, stating that in football "you need to come back strong, you need to accept what has happened, you need to be humble and you need to work to do it, inshallah".
The Afcon final will undoubtedly go down as one of the most dramatic and divisive matches in recent African Cup of Nations history. As Senegal celebrated their title, Regragui's words hung in the air like a challenge – would he ever recover from this ignominious defeat?
, what a drama queen move by Regragui 
... like, calm down, coach, it was just a penalty shootout 
. And omg, the image of Africa being 'shameful' 
? Give me a break 
. Thiaw's behavior might have been questionable, but let's not forget Díaz missed that kick too 
. And can we please talk about how Morocco went from being 1 game away from the World Cup to a team with a 26-game unbeaten run 
? Talk about some narrative damage control 
... Regragui needs to focus on his own team's growth instead of throwing shade at his opponents 
.
i mean, senegal won, big deal! but seriously, pape thiaw's behavior was super shady 
but at least he acknowledged his team's mistake instead of just blaming everyone else. by the way, has anyone tried those new moroccan pastries that everyone's been raving about? i heard they're, like, super delicious 
I was on the edge of my seat watching that penalty shootout 
! I feel so bad for Morocco, they were robbed of that title. Regragui's got every right to be salty about Thiaw's behavior though, it was super unprofessional 
. And can you believe Thiaw stormed out of the press conference? 
that's just not cool. I'm still trying to process what happened, it's all so crazy 
. Either way, congrats to Senegal on their Afcon title! 
They deserve it after such an epic comeback 
.
. And Regragui's got a point about how it reflects on African football as a whole - we need more sportsmanship like that! 
But at the same time, I feel bad for Morocco... they worked so hard to get to that final and then things just didn't go their way 
. And poor Brahim Díaz, what was he thinking with that last penalty kick? 
Guess you can say it's a teachable moment for all of us - how to handle pressure and disappointment in a positive way 
I feel so bad for Morocco, they had an amazing run going 26 games without losing and to have it all come crashing down like that must be really tough on them. 
Regragui is right though, Thiaw's behavior was absolutely unacceptable, especially after the game was over. 
How can you just walk out of a press conference like that?