Did Brahim Diaz intentionally miss the penalty kick? Shocking scenes from the Morocco-Senegal final (video)

Social networking sites were abuzz with endless controversy in an attempt to explain the penalty kick missed by the Moroccan national team’s top scorer, Ibrahim Diaz, in the final match of the African Cup between Morocco and Senegal, on Sunday, at the Prince Moulay Abdullah Stadium in Rabat, which ended in favor of the “Lions of Teranga” for the second time in their history, while the thirst of the “Atlas Lions” continued at a time when it was the closest thing to crowning the championship that they had been absent for since. 50 years.

Opinions differed about the kick awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala in the eighth minute of stoppage time, and Diaz executed it in a strange way, doubling the amount of doubt about his intentional miss, which prompted some fans to talk about a “conspiracy theory” – as they described it – between Diaz and the Senegalese player, Sadio Mane, based on a video clip circulating between them, which they claimed was part of an attempt to miss the kick and end the chaos that had spread on the field. It almost led to the match not being completed normally.

The confrontation had gone beyond the professional framework after the Senegalese team had already decided to withdraw from the field and go to the dressing room in objection to the decisions of the referee, who had canceled a goal for Senegal, before the players returned about 10 minutes after stopping the match.

⛔️ Sadio Mane, the Senegal national team striker, not only engineered the agreement for the Senegalese players to return to the field after the withdrawal, but also informed the Senegal goalkeeper about the direction of shooting the ball according to his agreement with Walid Regragui, who called on Ibrahim Diaz to assign him to carry out the strike, and suddenly withdrew the shot from En-Nesyri.

The guard later… pic.twitter.com/4eBordNSkc

– ⛔️ Muhammad Ouamoussi (@ouamoussi) January 19, 2026

The media turned into a huge analytical studio, pouring most opinions into one question that is difficult to say for certain: Is there a secret agreement between Morocco and Senegal, or is it just a moment of poor implementation by Diaz? Especially since the scene of Diaz missing the kick was preceded by two scenes: the first, a dialogue between Diaz and Mane, and the second between Mane and his fellow goalkeeper Edouard Mendy. After the miss of the kick, a strange scene appeared, unusual in football, as no Senegalese player went to congratulate the goalkeeper, whose save was supposed to be a historic ball that almost ended everything and officially crowned Morocco the title in the final seconds of the match.

The fans could not find an explanation for the strange silence, the exchange of glances, and the atmosphere that made those watching the match feel as if they were watching a thriller on a football field.

A strange shot in which strange things are discovered

Strange shot from Diaz
Senegal players did not salute the goalkeeper for blocking the ball 🤯!?

Was it agreed to be lost????

pic.twitter.com/dCWPZuiVVH

– Sarcastic (@SakerSport) January 18, 2026

Great intelligence for the World Cup
Fan Genius said: “It was great intelligence on the part of the Moroccan national team management to agree with the Senegal management and ask Diaz to intentionally miss the penalty kick in order to preserve Morocco’s reputation and not distort the tournament, which was distinguished, and also to avoid getting into problems after the tournament that might distort Morocco’s image and lead to withdrawing the organization of the World Cup from it in 2030.”

Is Diaz throwing himself as a victim?
As for the account owner, “Amr,” he said: “Did Ibrahim Diaz really intentionally miss the penalty kick so that the match would be completed and Senegal would return? The shot is very strange, but quite simply, Ibrahim Diaz did not intentionally miss the penalty. Brothers, Morocco has been 50 years without a championship! 50 years! Do you think that a player would make himself a victim and miss a decisive penalty kick in the last second of the match and deprive his country of a championship that it had been waiting for for 50 years on its home soil? Quite simply, the player made a decision. “It was bad against a big goalkeeper, and the ball was lost, and there was no intention in my opinion.”

In turn, Abu Abdullah said: “Questions for which I could not find answers. Who has them? Why did Ibrahim Diaz choose to execute the penalty kick in this way? Why did the Senegalese players not rush towards their goalkeeper to congratulate him after the save? And why did the referee not repeat the penalty kick due to the goalkeeper’s advance and movement?”

The account owner, Mohamed Wamousi, said: “Sadio Mane, the Senegal national team striker, not only engineered the agreement for the Senegalese players to return to the field after the withdrawal, but also informed the Senegal goalkeeper about the direction of shooting the ball according to his agreement with Walid Regragui, who called on Ibrahim Diaz to assign him to carry out the strike, and suddenly withdrew the shot from En-Nesyri. The goalkeeper later personally inquired of Ibrahim Diaz, who will be responsible for the implementation.”

In the face of all these opinions, the firm truth remains completely confusing and it is not possible to be certain about Diaz’s deliberate miss of the penalty kick that destroyed Morocco’s 50-year-old dream, and the curse of the African championship still afflicts the “Atlas Lions” despite their brilliance in the most important forum, the World Cup, in which they achieved the best achievement for an African team in the last edition, via the Qatar 2022 World Cup.