Pape Alassane Gueye of Senegal celebrates goal during 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 match between Senegal and Sudan on the 03 January 2026 at Grand Stadium Tangier in Tangier ©Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Saturday Jan 03, 2026. 18:52
Join AfricanFootball.com for LIVE updates from all 52 matches of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, as 24 teams battle for glory in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January.
Today’s matches:
18h00 – Senegal v Sudan – Match Centre
21h00 – Mali v Tunisia – Match Centre
Updates:
Half-time – Senegal 2 (P. Gueye 29′, 45+3′) Sudan 1 (Abdallah 6′). Thiaw’s side have recovered well after conceeding in the sixth minute. They have bossed the possession and managed to create three times as many chances as Sudan, who have put numbers behind the ball in an attempt to stifle Senegal.
45+3′ – Goal! Senegal 2-1 Sudan. The Lions of Teranga have turned things around just before the break. Gueye registers his second goal of the game with a curler from inside the area that beats Alnil.
45′ – There will seven additional minutes played at the end of the first half following that lengthy VAR check.
43′ – Sarr capitalises on sloppy defending to fire home, but the goal is ruled out for offside.
35′ – Ismaïla Sarr is brought down by the on-rushing Munjed Alnil inside the box and the referee points to the spot. However, the assistant’s flag goes up and it appears that the Crystal Palace winger was offside which is confirmed by VAR.
29′ – Goal! Senegal 1-1 Sudan. The Lions of Teranga get themselves back in the game as Pape Gueye is picked out on the edge of the box by Mane and drills his shot into the bottom right corner of the net.
25′ – It’s almost 2-0 to Sudan as Mohamed Eisa creates space for himself inside the box and fires a shot towards goal from an angle, but Edouard Mendy is on hand to make the save.
16′ – Mane fails to trouble the goalkeeper moments later with an effort from outside the area that clears the crossbar by some distance following a corner.
15′ – Abdallah tries his luck from range once more after gaining some confidence from his screamer, but the ball sails well over the crossbar on this occasion.
12′ – Krepin Diatta tests the Sudan goalkeeper from a direct free-kick in a promising position. Senegal are ramping up the pressure in their search for an equaliser.
10′ – That was the first goal from a Sudanese player in the tournament after their winner against Equatorial Guinea came from a Saul Coco own-goal.
9′ – Senegal look to respond and Sadio Mane carries the ball into the box from the left and gets off a shot that is well saved by Munjed Alnil.
6′ – Goal! Senegal 0-1 Sudan. The Falcons of Jediane get off to a dream start as Aamir Abdallah receives a pass from Walieldin Khedr and sends a shot arcing over Edouard Mendy into top left corner of the net from outside the area.
1′ – Senegal get proceedings underway at the Tangier Grand Stadium.
What was said:
Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw: “Our next objective is to correct the mistakes we made in our group stage match before we go into the Round of 16 because on that stage there will be no rooms for errors which will be published. We will use the next few days to address these problems.”
Sudan striker Mohamed Eisa: “All the pressure is going to be on Senegal. They’re expected to go 1-0 or 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes, but we’re not going to try and let them do that. We’re going to have our own game plan and try and do something. They are the favourites to win the whole competition but we are not scared of nobody.”
The Falcons of Jediane failed to win any of their three matches in Group E, but still managed to afvance to the round of 16 as one of the best-ranked third-placed teams. Kwesi Appiah’s side finished on three points courtesy of their 1-0 victory over Equatorial Guinea, having lost their other two games against Algeria (3-0) and Burkina Faso (2-0).
Pape Thiaw’s side are still unbeaten in Morocco after beating both Botswana and Benin 3-0, while they were held to a 1-1 draw by DR Congo which saw claim top spot in Group D.
Senegal and Sudan should be fairly familiar to one another, having also met during qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, when the Lions of Teranga ran out 2-0 victors on 5 September 2025 after the reverse fixture ended in a 0-0 draw six months earlier.
Senegal v Sudan starting line-ups:
Senegal: E, Mendy, K. Diatta, A. Seck, M. Niakhate, I. Jakobs, H. Diarra, I. Gueye, P. Gueye, I. Sarr, N. Jackson, S. Mane.
Sudan: M. Alnil, S. Barglan, M. Ering, M. Karshoum, B. Khamis, A. Taifour, A. Abdalla, W. Khedr, A. Abdallah, M. Eisa, M. Abdelrahman.