Senegal and Morocco Advance to the 2025 Africa Cup Semi-Finals

On January 9, 2026, the first quarterfinal matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations took place in Morocco. The national teams of Senegal and Morocco secured their spots in the semi-finals.

In the first match of the day, Senegal narrowly defeated Mali 1-0. The only goal was scored by Everton forward Ilyman Ndiaye in the 27th minute — his first goal of the tournament. It’s worth noting that Mali played with ten men from the 45th minute after Yves Bissouma was sent off.

In the semi-final, which will take place on January 14 in Tangier, Senegal will face the winner of the Egypt vs. Côte d’Ivoire match.

In the second match of the day, the tournament hosts Morocco comfortably beat Cameroon 2-0. Brahim Diaz opened the scoring in the 26th minute with an assist from Ayoub El Kaabi. For the Real Madrid player, this is already his fifth goal of the tournament — Diaz has scored in every Africa Cup match. The second goal was scored by PSV’s Ismaila Syarbi following a pass from Naif Auger. Both goals came from set-piece situations.

Morocco will play in the semi-final on January 14 in Rabat against the winner of the Algeria vs. Nigeria match.

The second quarterfinal matches will take place on January 10.