Ndiaye Double Penalty Save Helps Morocco Through As Senegal Exit WAFCON

Morocco advance to WAFCON after draw again Senegal

Algeria also advance as Morocco and Senegal play out 0-0 WAFCON showdown. Morocco through despite Mrabet penalty misses in heated draw with Senegal.

Morocco through to WAFCON quarter-finals after stalemate with Senegal...

Morocco booked a spot in the WAFCON quarter-finals following a 0-0 draw with Senegal. Jorge Vilda’s side had a chance to win it, but Ghizlane Mrabet saw her penalty retaken and missed twice. Senegal earned a respectable point, but it wasn’t enough to go through. Algeria took second in Group A after beating Kenya 2-0 in the other game.

The action started early. Senegal hit Morocco on the break straight from kickoff, and Seynabou Mbengue tested the Moroccan keeper with a curling shot from distance in the 2nd minute.

Sakina Ouzraoui picked up a cut-back on the edge of the area and fired a low shot from the middle of the box, but Adji Ndiaye got down well to push it out for a corner in the 6th minute. On the right side of the penalty area, Ghizlane Chebbak delivered a dangerous free-kick that Nouhaila Benzina headed toward goal. The effort lacked dip though, and sailed over the bar in the 8th minute.

Elodie Nakkach then threaded a ball through to Chebbak, who took it down with her back to goal, turned quickly, and got off a close-range shot. It drifted just wide of the post in the 10th minute.

Chebbak was played in behind on a breakaway, sprinting through the middle before getting a toe to the ball on the edge of the area. A Senegalese defender got a block on it, and Morocco were given a corner in the 17th minute.

Nguenar Ndiaye was then found in the middle on the counter, but her effort lacked power and Khadija Errmichi was able to dive and smother it in the 25th minute. Senegal came close again a few minutes later on another break. Errmichi charged off her line to get to the ball ahead of Ndeye Casset, ended up clashing with her own teammate, but still managed to recover and gather it in the 33rd minute.

Senegal kept pushing and almost broke through when a shot from the edge of the box was blocked by Morocco. Marieme Babou then pulled it back for Ndeye Diakhaté, and the Senegal No. 10 met it with a half-volley that crashed against the crossbar in the 38th minute.

Adji Ndiaye came up big in the 43rd minute, rising to head away a looping cross from Hanane Ait El Haj that looked destined for goal. Right before halftime, Elodie Nakkach tried her luck with a shot across goal, forcing another good save from Ndiaye in the 45th minute.

But neither side could find the breakthrough.

Ndiaye Stands Firm As Penalty Appeals Ignored

The drama picked up after the break when Moroccan players called for a penalty after Sokhna Pene’s arm blocked a long-range free-kick rebound in the 52nd minute. 

The referee only gave a free-kick at the center of the pitch. That decision sparked a heated clash between both teams over where the free-kick should be taken, and players had to be separated in the 54th minute. The official went to VAR to check the incident, but after the review she stuck with her original call in the 56th minute.

Adji Ndiaye shows up. 🧤🇸🇳#TotalEnergiesWAFCON2026 pic.twitter.com/AZdnytAyIl

— CAF Women Football (@CAFwomen) August 3, 2026

Morocco turned up the pressure and forced Ndiaye into action twice, as she came out to the edge of her area to collect and deny the Atlas Lionesses in the 60th and 62nd minutes.

Morocco finally got their penalty when Babou brought down Ouzraoui inside the box. Yasmin Mrabet took it, but Ndiaye guessed right and pushed it out for a corner in the 66th minute.

The spot-kick had to be retaken, but nothing changed. Ndiaye was up to it again, leaping to tip Mrabet’s second attempt over the bar in the 68th minute.

The penalty had to be taken again, but the outcome didn’t change. Ndiaye soared and palmed Mrabet’s effort over the bar in the 68th minute.

Morocco went close again through Ouzraoui. She went on a brilliant solo run, skipping past every defender in the box, but she ran too wide to the left and her final shot missed the target in the 76th minute.

Senegal pushed back with a corner that Ndiaye headed wide. Moments later Mama Diop had a go, but her shot was blocked by the Moroccan defense in the 79th minute.

The pressure kept coming from Morocco. After the ball pinballed around the Senegalese area, Chebbak let fly with a clean strike, only for Fatoumata Drame to make a superb clearance and deny her in the 84th minute.

From 30 yards out, Nakkach went for a powerful effort while off balance, but it flew well over Ndiaye’s crossbar in the 87th minute.

Morocco wasted another big opportunity deep into stoppage time when Benzina met a cross with her foot from close range, only to be blocked by the Senegalese defense in the 90th+4 minute.

The Prince Moulay Hassan Stadium was on its feet one last time after Sanaa Mssoudy got on the end of an Imane Saoud cross with a header, but it drifted just wide in the 90th+11 minute.

Senegal Exit As Morocco Top Group A

Despite an encouraging performance in their final group game, Senegal are out of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. The Lionesses of Teranga finished third in Group A on four points, behind group winners Morocco with seven points and Algeria in second on six.

That opening 2-0 loss to Algeria ultimately cost Senegal, who had made the quarter-finals in the last two tournaments. Morocco go through instead and will now meet the Group B runners-up in the quarter-finals currently Tanzania with the final group games set for tomorrow, Saturday, at 10:00 pm.