Three months out from the FIFA Arab Cup™, Morocco have laid down a marker of their title intentions by winning the African Nations Championship (CHAN) for a record third time.
Co-hosted by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the tournament produced plenty of shock results before the Atlas Lions downed Madagascar 3-2 in a thrilling final in Nairobi.
Unlike the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will take place in Morocco later this year, the CHAN is contested exclusively by players that are participating in domestic leagues in Africa.
Morocco won the tournament in both 2018 and 2020 before withdrawing from the previous edition, with this latest success then confirming their place as CHAN heavyweights.
Having fallen to a 1-0 defeat against Kenya in their second group outing, Tarik Sektioui’s side then downed Zambia and DR Congo to storm into the quarters. A 1-0 win there against Tanzania was followed by a penalty shootout victory over Senegal to book their spot in the decider.
Madagascar have been a nation on the rise in recent years and they became the first island nation to reach a senior CAF tournament final as they saw off Kenya and then Sudan in the knockout stage.
At the Moi International Sports Centre, they struck first in the final only to trail at the break courtesy of goals from Youssef Mehri and Oussama Lamlioui. They then drew level midway through the second term before a stunning late second from tournament top scorer Lamlioui settled things for Morocco.
Hopes are high that several of Madagascar’s youngsters may now progress to the full senior side ahead of a series of crunch FIFA World Cup™ qualifiers over the next two months.
The Barea currently sit third in Group I, two adrift of Comoros and five behind section leaders Ghana. With three of their final four fixtures against nations below them in the standings, they’ll be hopeful of parlaying a strong CHAN outing into a maiden World Cup qualification.
Elsewhere, it was a mixed tournament for Africa’s Arab Cup hopefuls, with Sudan impressing as they downed the defending champions Algeria in the quarter-finals, while Mauritania failed to make it out of their group.
Quarter-finalists at the last Arab Cup, Morocco will be looking to ride the momentum from this continental success at the upcoming tournament in Qatar, which takes place from 1 to 18 December.
Champions: Morocco
Runners-up: Madagascar
Third place: Senegal
Player of the Tournament: Mohamed Hrimat (Morocco)
Golden Boot: Oussama Lamlioui (Morocco)
Best goalkeeper: Marc Diouf (Senegal)
Fair Play Award: Senegal
