Here the referee appointments for third place game and the final of 2025 AFCON in Morocco.
Third Place Game
17:00 CET - Casablanca (Stade Mohammed V)
EGYPT - NIGERIA
Referee: Jalal Jayed MAR
Assistant Referee 1: Zakaria Brinsi MAR
Assistant Referee 2: Mostafa Akarkad MAR
Fourth Official: Peter Waweru Kamaku KENReserve Assistant Referee: Khalil Hassani TUN
Video Assistant Referee: Lahlou Benbraham ALG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Haythem Guirat TUN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Hamza El Fariq MAR
CAF Referee Assessor: Sinko Zeli CIV
Final
Sunday 18 January 2026
20:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah)
SENEGAL - MOROCCO
Fourth Official: Abongile Tom RSA
Reserve Assistant Referee: Styven Danek Moutsassi Moyo CGO
Video Assistant Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho GAB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Letticia Antonella Viana SWZ
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe KEN
CAF Referee Assessor: René Daniel Louzaya CGO
20:00 CET - Rabat (Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah)
SENEGAL - MOROCCO
Referee: Jean-Jacques Ngambo Ndala COD
Assistant Referee 1: Guylain Ngila Bongele COD
Assistant Referee 2: Gradel Mbilizi Mwanya COD
Reserve Assistant Referee: Styven Danek Moutsassi Moyo CGO
Video Assistant Referee: Pierre Ghislain Atcho GAB
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 1: Letticia Antonella Viana SWZ
Assistant Video Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Eleazar Onyango Yiembe KEN
CAF Referee Assessor: René Daniel Louzaya CGO
Some African internet news reported that Mahmoud Ismail is referee for the final!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUdinese vs Inter. Last time I saw such overuse of a whistle was when Faghani reffed in the olympics. Di Bello has very annoying use of the whistle. Almost every free kick call, there are several additional whistles before play is restarted. Same on corner kicks. And he doesn’t even know how to correctly blow into a whistle.
DeleteDi Bello is not having a good game. Poor decisions. For example now, ~70'. He awarded wrongly a free kick for Inter for a handball that was not punishable in anu case. And on the counter attack a clean tackling by Carlos Augusto is wrongly whisyled as a foul and YC is awrded. He is struggling to mantain the control.
DeleteManchester - City = only YC on 11´ by Taylor is an unacceptable decision. Clear serious foul play and no VAR intervention isn’t understandable…
ReplyDelete'Contact deemed to be glancing and not with excessive force', was the reason given by the PL for the VAR deeming it reckless only. But I agree, it was SFP, the force was slightly more than glancing
DeleteRC also for me
DeleteJean Jacque Ndala Ngambo COD à 80% officera la finale
ReplyDeleteOFR in third place game for disallowing a goal scored by Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteThe officiating crew assessed a reckless elbow in the box by attacker before the goal. A decision that is discussed because it looks like defender ran into the attacker's arm in that position and not the contrary. To me, it's a classic situation in which a replay, after the live action, gives more the feeling of a foul than what could have been perceived in real pace. Tricky stuff for VAR, however the intervention is not 100% wrong.
IMO good decision by Algerian VAR to call to monitor Jayed. Clear foul not given live. But harsh YC here. Not mandatory at all…
DeleteJayed not very convincing during second half with a lot of leniency (1/2 YC forgotten against Egypt), failure and irregular Line on foul detection and very very doubtful no foul decision without OFR requirement at 81’. IMO was penalty and RC for Nigeria and DOGSO.
ReplyDeleteNdala confirmed for the final, Tom 4O, Atcho at VAR (CAF media on X)
ReplyDeleteSENEGAL V MOROCCO
ReplyDeleteJean Jacques NGAMBO NDALA
Guylain Bongele NGILA
Gradel Mwanya MBILIZI
Abongile TOM
Styven MOUTSASSI MOYO
VAR Pierre Ghislain ATCHO
Leticia VIANA
Stephane Eleazar YIEMBE
REFEREE ASSESSOR - René Daniel LOUZAYA
In the end, once again the assumption is confirmed that a referee appointed for the opening match is considered by committee to have something extra and is therefore a stronger potential candidate for the final than others. This has made the modern appointment management much easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteIt should also be added that it would have been difficult to see a referee who was not pre-selected for the World Cup to officiate the final. In my view, however, they would have appointed Abongile Tom if he had been on the famous list: in fact, after refereeing his quarter-final, he has always appeared in other roles, and in my opinion he also performed better than Ngambo on some occasions, or at least he had more complex matches to officiate (no fault of Congolese referee here).
There is still more to be said about how this competition has been refereed, but let's wait until this last match today.
What are you thoughts on Daniel Laryea's foul detection and use/non-use of cards in the second semi-final game, particularly in light of widespread comments that all 50-50 calls favoured one side?
DeleteCongrats to Ndala Ngambo. Was my favourite with Atcho. Deserved appointment to him.
ReplyDeleteTwo incidents from third place game.
ReplyDeleteDisallowed goal after OFR for reckless elbow:
https://streambug.org/cv/bff7ab
Two penalty area incidents in a row, play on, no VAR interventions, both were possible RC for DOGSO, not genuine fouls
https://streambug.org/cv/78dc6f
That goal should not be disallowed. Opponent comes from behind and runs into his arm.
DeleteFirst situation is blatant push with two hands. Clear foul.
DeletePlease have links during the match if possible. For example of the final has a penalty call, red card, incorrect calls etc. Post the incidents here.
ReplyDeleteUsually there are several situations discussed here from Premier League, Serie A etc, but no links to videos showing what is being discussed. Difficult for those who didn’t see the match live.
Paul Tierney will return to the Premier League after a very long time out due to Injury. He has refereed lower league fixtures this season however he’s finally back tomorrow night.
ReplyDeleteI believe this will be his second game. I think he did Man City v West Ham on 20th Dec
DeleteMinute 93. Chaos now. In my opinion, no foul at all. He blew the whistle immediately and didn’t let the attack continue. Goal was disallowed.
ReplyDeleteVery clear foul, two handed push with clear extension and force. Nothing to discuss here other than good awareness by the referee to know where to look during the corner kick.
DeleteDisagree. On the replays I saw, I did not see that.
DeleteI agree, he feels the touch and dives in
DeleteNo foul at all. Same dive as Diaz
DeleteEnd CAN with an poor decision by referee to whistle immediatly a little contact between players and cut action before goal is scored. So no VAR OFR possible…
ReplyDeleteAs if they have called the vat for tharlt. Afcon you are a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteWow,this kind of penalty would not happen if things were vice versa.
ReplyDeleteOnly for hosts.
We will see the biggest conspiracy theories of 2026 now. Incorrectly disallowed goal, and then penalty to Morocco 2 minutes later. Not incorrect penalty but it should never had happened…
ReplyDeleteBased on the replay I saw…
DeleteWould not be surprised if they walk off the pitch..
ReplyDeleteWell done Senegal. Walk off and refuse to play on.
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing times for African football and officiating
DeleteNot well done at all. Sportsmanship and the referee’s decision must always be respected. These farcical scenes are the culmination of a culture where the referee has no authority and the norms of sporting behavior are no longer respecting.
DeleteDisgusting for you to say this as a referee. You should be ashamed.
DeleteWhat a disgrace. African refereeing is a drama. This man can’t go to world cup. He is not Elite one. No charisma. No reaction with Brahim Diaz Unbelievable dissent. No sanction. Ghost one. And chaos for a continental final…
ReplyDeleteDon't blame the referee, blame CAF. He only acted as instructed.
DeleteThis is the biggest joke I've ever seen. The whole tournament was made for Morocco to win. I hope we never see this referee anywhere again. Congratulations to Senegal.
ReplyDeleteFeel sorry for ref,but he had all the power to say no.
ReplyDeleteLooks like there is more than that.
Guys,lets be honest. Im very sorry for Senegal about first goal,which is 50/50 call, but penalty was obvious.
ReplyDeleteNot a penalty at all. The fact that he didn't book Diaz for his blatant dissent tells you all.
DeleteI disagree, I don’t think it’s a penalty, the force is not very big and the attacker throws himself to the ground. Certainly not a clear and obvious error.
DeleteThe scenes during and after the video review are farcical and is the culmination of the lack of leadership by figures of authority and lack of respect for the rules and referees (I’m sure Mikael has a lot to say about the technical areas!)
We need videos….
ReplyDeleteNo one saw this coming...
ReplyDeleteI swear the gk was off his line for the penalty aswell
ReplyDeleteI think it was close, I would like to see a replay from the side. Imagine if he was, good luck getting Senegal back on the field after that.
DeleteAmongst other matters, I think we also must be critical that the referee did not allow any more added time after the penalty. There were ninety seconds left when the penalty happened, plus two stoppages for substitution during extra time. There should have been at least 2 more minutes played.
ReplyDeleteDisagree : for me penalty at all is the good decision. But about Diaz attitude ? What about this professionnal foul at this level not waiting for the end of action and broke VAR possibility concerning Sénégal disallowed goal. Out of be selected to WC with that. Please give Tom USA travel…
ReplyDeleteGuys,look. Clear and obvious mistake is philosphy of UEFA, and they insist that such mistake only can be reviewed. In FIFA, and I supposed CAF, philosphy is that for such contacts referees should be given the second chance for reviewing it. As you can see, number of Var interventions is much higher at WC,then EUROS.
ReplyDeleteDisallowed goal:
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/0e3fb9
OFR and penalty call:
https://streamain.com/en/tjM3NpzyC2aoP94/watch
If you isolate the calls, both are supportable and rather correct than wrong, but of course the problem was about the timing they happened and all the rest.
Mirror for the OFR
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/56db06
Totally agree with you. But, referees are there to make decisions,hard decisions in tight games, in last moments. If there are correct decisions,referee should be praised!
DeleteDo you have full sequence of the disallowed goal? Including the whistle and reactions.
DeleteThe handling of Senegal’s first goal was particularly damaging. The whistle was blown far too early, effectively eliminating any possibility of VAR intervention. This decision immediately affected the credibility of the officiating team and disrupted Senegal’s confidence and trust in the referee.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the penalty incident, once a major error has already influenced the match, officials must be extremely cautious. Awarding such a soft penalty in that context only compounded the controversy. This was not a situation where discretion could be ignored; the match required calm judgment and consistency, especially after an earlier mistake.
the final deserved better officiating standards, and CAF must seriously reflect on referee selection and preparation for matches of this importance.
I completely echo this analysis, actually couldn’t have put my thoughts better than what was written above!
DeleteThank you Damir,but it was really so bad for Senegalese to act like that they should be fined and the coach banned
DeleteHow should the referee have handled the senegal coach? I hope this leads to an aftermath. Disgraceful behaviour.
ReplyDeleteGame needs to be interrupted as there are fans in the crowd with whistles which will end up causing more problems.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, this must be your first time watching a CAF competition, because whistles in the crowd are very common among lots of other problems. There’s never enough security and the crowd is allowed to do basically whatever they want. Whistles, laser pointers, etc. because no one will ever be punished or thrown out of the crowd for these things.
DeleteI wanted to wait until the end of the match to speak, but I will quickly say that the biggest problem with this competition was also the appointments of VAR. After a scandalous decision like the missed handball, probably supported by CAF but completely wrong, in the Algeria-Nigeria match, Atcho was selected for the final. That was incredible. Simply unacceptable. There weren't competent officials in VAR room for some crucial games. CAF paid this, all in one, when Senegal decided to leave the pitch at the end of regular times.
ReplyDeleteAs I wrote above, while the incident analyzed alone may be correct, the Moroccan certainly fell to the ground after the contact, but with other contacts also present in the box, where calling or not by VAR had absolutely the weight of a full competition in case.
You can say here, referees instructed maybe under the technical point of view, but not with a wise / intelligent approch, once being in a so crucial game and moment.
I would also add that even if he didn't do it intentionally, the entire atmosphere was created for the Moroccan player to completely miss that penalty.
It will still remain a match to remember forever in a way, where CAF made a terrible impression. But it was entirely their fault.
There are at least 50 people standing in the technical area this is unbelievable, terrible management and this needs to change for the sake of the sport.
ReplyDeleteAnd now substitutes are on the other side of the pitch acting as ball boys, don’t tell me this is normal??
ReplyDeleteIn the end Senegal managed to win the tournament and that's the most incredible thing after this game.
ReplyDeleteAfrican football are completely anarchy. No respect for the rules or the referees. On the other hand the referees are not competent enough and the federation sets them up for failure.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair I don’t think the problem is isolated to CAF, looking at AFC WCQ in recent months, any CONCACAF or CONMEBOL finals or big matches all suffer from these same problems. UEFA is only mostly doing ok because people there still have respect for authority, rules and sportsmanship. Everywhere else has issues because the authorities don’t have the guts to enact actual security measures or enforce any rules, and no one cares for respecting the rules anyways.
DeleteEven look at something as simple as the Moroccan ball boys stealing the opposing goalkeeper's towel. This happened last game too, so it shouldn't come as a surprise. Yet security enforcement is totally absent.
DeleteAfrica is anarchy.
DeleteThis is the mirror of Euro Final. Do you imagine François Letexier allowed penalty with stadium riots, 50 people stand up out of the benches, players acting like baby balls and dissent at a level incredibly high ? That’s absolutely catastrophic for refereeing and african football.
ReplyDeleteRather than aimlessly criticize, I would also like to shear what specifically you think the refereeing crew should have done differently to deal with those problems. This is the natural consequence of modern football and organizers’ lack of strength to demand adherence to their own rules.
DeleteTo start off with there is no excuse about how the officials dealt with dissent tonight, NO excuse.Players screaming, throwing arms, entering the field of play without permission, 25+ at least people standing in the technical boxes! Officials have a duty to perform enacting the laws of the game. In many cases tonight they failed to do so.
DeleteYC for dissent to Diaz. Not shoot this penalty in this atmosphere. Take sanctions on the benches (there is two officials on it : are they sleeping ?) - big issue : let the game flow before whistle a so-so fault against - BE AN ÉLITE REF : thing he is definitely NOT.
DeleteNot ignoring the fact the referee could (should) have handled things differently in several occasions it doesn’t make sense to bring up Letexier. If he’d made the same decisions on both KMI’s I bet he would have shown a few more cards, but I’m quite sure he would have faced exactly the same behaviours. I tend to agree with EricX in an earlier comment that problems in CAF are not isolated to the level of refereeing only, but go far deeper.
DeleteI didn't watch the match and, trusting the outraged comments, believed the referee made key mistakes. But... I watched these two moments and I don't understand a thing. Both decisions were correct!
ReplyDeletePenalty is acceptable. The disallowed goal, no. Both players used their arms and one was stronger. Mutual contact. Definitely wrong.
DeleteQuite hard to say something after that game, just a disaster everywhere. First, the decisions for me, both are wrong or not correct, he whistles to quick in the first incident and can't reverse it after, we see this type of contact all the time and it's never given now. The no call of PK is acceptable imo, don't really know why VAR ask for OFR. And the most important, after that chaos all over the stadium, some huge fights with fans and between teams, letting a player kicking a pk in that environment is maybe the worst thing here, hopefully nothing happens after it. and finally we can sometimes be hard on UEFA for strange appointments but here it was horrible the all competition. Africans referees deserved better than this.
ReplyDeleteCompletely ignoring everything else, looking at the two incidents in isolation:
ReplyDeleteFor the disallowed goal, for me this is not a foul. However, it’s a supportable decision and is very easy to give on the field. It is also unlikely to be recommended for a review by the VAR because I don’t believe it is clear and obvious. But obviously, the referee needs to hold the whistle longer.
For the penalty, this is a clear penalty for me, and a clear and obvious error not to award one. It’s also a caution for lack of respect (holding off the ball in the penalty area) at least by UEFA standards.
Now to address the non-football events. It cannot be understated how completely horrible this behavior is after the penalty award. This is the type of crap that makes me personally want to quit refereeing. I watch a lot of matches, and I have for my entire refereeing career of about 12 years now, and I have noticed dissent, intimidation, violence against referees, and conflict in general (mass confrontations, violent conduct, etc.) increase dramatically throughout the world. Am I crazy or have others noticed this as well? I feel it is reaching a tipping point. We ourselves tolerate it by continuing to work under these conditions and do not push back or stand out because it can negatively impact our advancement. Football has become so toxic and is less attractive, depending on the league and game, it’s anywhere from 50-90% football and the rest is ugly petulant bullcrap, whining, and abuse. Something must be done. The IFAB tries to add things to help, like only the captain, but it’s never followed or implemented globally. We need some serious harsh punishments that are mandated by the laws for specific behaviors that tarnish the image of the game.
Agreed completely. I see these trends in football as an extension of the global cultural shift against intrinsic respect for authority figures and for rules/laws in general. I do not know what the solution is; the IFAB or national federations can write whatever they want, but it means nothing if the underlying refereeing culture doesn't change. There's too much "oh no we can't punish dissent strictly, we can't enforce the Team Official offenses added to the LOTG in 2019, because we need to 'manage the game' instead", ignoring that we do not only have a responsibility to manage our own match, but to serve the sport as a whole. Refereeing culture needs to move away from acting "for the good of this game" to acting "for the good of The Game".
DeleteThank your RAPenjoyer for these emotional words which perfectly summarise what I am, I think many other referees and I hope even many football fans are feeling around the world.
DeleteWhat’s truly incredible is that the Senegalese coach was not even given a yellow card after his terrible antics!
ReplyDeleteIf I were Morocco, I would have made a formal complaint. Senegal abandoned the match and should lose 3-0.
Kudos to UEFA for severely punishing such incidents and to their referees, who quickly command respect during the game. In my opinion, both decisions by the overly lenient referee were wrong. It's fortunate for me that he didn't punish any players or officials before the restart [which was obviously wrong], otherwise the situation would have escalated further.
ReplyDeleteThis is another mentality that a lot of referees seem to adopt, and which can be true in a lot of cases. The idea of “I might be wrong/this team is very upset/this incident is controversial, so I better not punish their behavior because it will just escalate things” like I said, true in a lot of cases, but it doesn’t matter if our decisions are correct or incorrect, we still have to be strong and punish dissent, mobbing, technical areas, etc. otherwise it’s a free for all and players start to realize that if they make you doubt yourself or make an incident seem controversial even if it isn’t, they can get away with further dissent and making you look like a weak fool when you don’t punish it, undermining your authority and ability to control the game. A lot of times it can even be about survival and your safety and protecting your career, because if you do what is right and punish what has occurred factually (potentially leading to more reactions) then those things may be in jeopardy. Obviously, pretty much all of this falls on the footballing organization in charge of the competition on whether they support/instruct their referees to be firm and in control or not. Again, referees at the highest level are now “puppets” and football is “show business” Collina said the show business part himself…
DeleteWell, this was beyond football, beyond any game perspective, I believe that was survival for Ndala as it would have been for nearly anyone in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThe situation was not in the hands of the referee anymore and punishing at the moment would have been pointless.
I don't know what to think. I did not feel Ndala would fit to this game, I certainly believe he had extreme difficulty KMIs in the last minutes, with a lot of pressure, and technical experts will say what had to stand.
I am much more worried by Diaz dissent before the VAR call, on a refereeing perspective, and the 100% leniency during the game (when football was played).
The other things would have been endangering.
I won't critisize the referee and I feel really sorry for him. But this final was a clear consequence of the tournement, where dissent was tolerated and the referees had no respect. It's not a referee's fault, but rather an instruction from CAF refereeing comitee, that still try to make everyone happy, than to punish clear LoTG violations. The issue with dissent was discussed many times on this blog. Watching the scenes in the end of the 90 minutes, it's make me think really sorry for the referee. I think it was really bad image, when there is a crowd around referee, who is watching a monitor. It shouldn't be like this in any competion. 4th official and the referee should have stop this first and not even start watching the incident, before everyone get to their places on the bench. If it was hard to do, then disciplinary action should have been used. About the second incident, I think this is the exact case, when 'the spirit of the game' principle should be used, and it was better not to award a penalty.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThey are making claims that the goalkeeper encroached on the save. Obviously with terrible camera angles and pausing the image at the wrong time because they don’t know the law. But anybody who has a good camera angle from the side? Seemed like his foot was in line with the goal line before the kick
To finish referee catastrophic level, VAR Atcho had to intervene because in fact, penalty had to be retaken. Goalkeeper isn’t obviously on the line ! https://x.com/rbati_amazighi/status/2013167680279200100?s=46&t=Ok5OCp_U1mZPFDKlm4EOGQ
DeleteSaw it now, yes he was definitely on the line at the exact moment it was kicked. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTsW40hjA_m/?igsh=MWJ1dzlwYXJzZGg4ZA==
DeleteWhy didn't CAF try with different federations and their refs?
ReplyDeleteYou had Copa America and you had refs from UEFA.
Then on Euro,you had refs from CONMEBOL...
I am not saying that they should have officiated crucial matches,but CONMEBOL or UEFA ref in group phase to show African refs how the job is done.
On this tournament, you only had Tom with modern,even to say european style of referreeing and I liked his style the most.
Imagine Siebert with this kind of dissents.
We would see 10 cards in a match but that would set the tone and would be example that dissent and rough fouls are not tolerated.
Only great thing and ref that happened this tournament is Tom.
Everyone else huge let downs,even Ghorbal who became lenient and ref that is not interested in punishing dissents,something that he did so well last AFCON.
The only medicine for what is going on in the top refereeing outside UEFA is coming back to a strict law-enforcer style regarding any kind of unsporting behaviour like mobbing, dissent, delaying the restart, team officials misbehaviours. But, of course, it won't happen, at least not before the big SHOW in the United States this year. We'll see much of this sh*t presented by FIFA and Infantino with Collina/Busacca will be happy with the SHOW and referees as ACTORS. Shame on you, people destroying not only refereeing but also football as the game we love...
ReplyDeleteCouldn’t agree more.
Delete+1
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