Morocco are Senegal’s third most frequent opponent in international football history, with only Guinea (53 matches) and Mali (43) having faced the Teranga Lions more often. For Morocco, only Tunisia have been played more frequently, with 55 meetings.

Remarkably, however, the two teams have never met at the Africa Cup of Nations before, making Sunday’s final their first encounter at the continental showpiece.

This is extraordinary given the strength of both nations over the years and the fact that between them they have played 145 matches at the tournament, just never against one another.

Overall, Morocco have largely held the upper hand, recording 21 victories to Senegal’s nine, with eight draws, and outscoring their West African opponents 51–25.

Their last competitive meeting in full international football dates back to 2001, when they met in qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup in Japan and South Korea. A 0–0 draw in Morocco was followed by a 1–0 home win for Senegal, courtesy of an El-Hadji Diouf goal. That Senegal side would go on to reach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.

The two nations also clashed in the semi-finals of the African Nations Championship last year, with Morocco advancing on penalties after a 1–1 draw.

However, as that competition is restricted to home-based players and subject to selection limitations, it is not a reliable yardstick. Indeed, neither Morocco coach Walid Regragui nor Senegal’s Pape Thiaw was in charge at the time.

Since those World Cup qualifiers 25 years ago, the teams have also met in six friendlies, all won by Morocco. The most recent was in 2022 and featured largely experimental squads, coming just days after the World Cup in Qatar.

Morocco and Senegal also faced each other in the qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup, with Morocco winning 3–1 and 1–0, as well as in Olympic Games qualifiers in 1983. Morocco edged Senegal in the qualifiers for the 1982 World Cup and for the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations, the latter marking the last time Morocco lifted the continental trophy, nearly 50 years ago.

They also met in the preliminaries for the 1970 and 1974 World Cups, with Morocco prevailing on both occasions.

The very first meeting between the sides came in a World Cup qualifier in 1968, when Morocco claimed a 1–0 victory thanks to a Boujemaa Benkhrif goal 18 minutes from time.