Brahim and the pain in his soul
Brahim was Morocco's villain in the final of the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) held in the North African country.
Morocco was the favourite, thanks to its impressive track record, its status as host nation and one of the best teams in the championship, with excellent players such as Brahim Díaz and Achraf Hakimi.
But the final against Senegal did not go as expected for the Moroccan side and came to an abrupt end with the decisive penalty missed by Spanish-Moroccan Brahim Díaz.
The disappointment was great, and Brahim himself apologised and asked for forgiveness for the serious mistake in the penalty kick in the final stretch of the decisive match against Senegal, which ultimately won in extra time.
‘My soul hurts,’ Brahim Díaz said in a statement on social media. ‘I dreamed of this title because of all the love you have given me, for every message, for every show of support that made me feel that I am not alone. I fought with everything I had, with my heart above all else,’ he said.
Brahim took full responsibility. ‘I failed and I take full responsibility, and I apologise with all my heart,’ Brahim wrote. ‘It will be hard for me to get back up, because this wound does not heal easily, but I will try. Not for myself, but for all those who believed in me and for all those who suffer with me. I will keep going until one day I can repay all this love and be the pride of my Moroccan people,’ said the Spanish-Moroccan player.
A date with history
Morocco had a date with history during the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) as it attempted to win the title fifty years after its only continental championship at the national team level in 1976 in the tournament held that year in Ethiopia.
Morocco came into the tournament with only one African championship title to its name, but with high hopes this year as host of the tournament and thanks to the high level of the national team, which had brilliantly completed both the CAN and the upcoming World Cup qualifying rounds in the United States, Canada and Mexico, qualifying for both tournaments by dominating their groups and displaying great play and excellent results.
In addition, at the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Morocco reached the semi-finals, something never achieved by any Arab or African team, and was only knocked out of the tournament by Kylian Mbappé's powerful France, which ultimately finished as world runner-up after losing the final to Leo Messi's Argentina.
Morocco's favouritism
In this scenario, Morocco started as favourites to win the African football championship in this 2026 edition, which is also being organised by the Moroccan kingdom.
And during the tournament, the national team led by the successful coach of recent times, Walid Regragui, lived up to expectations: it qualified in the group stage as the top team in its group, ahead of Mali, the Comoros Islands and Zambia, and successively eliminated Tanzania, Cameroon and Nigeria in the subsequent rounds, until it reached the final against another powerful team, Senegal. Along the way, Morocco scored nine goals and conceded only one.
The Moroccan national team played very solidly, with a virtually impenetrable defence and a world-class goalkeeper in Yassine Bono, as well as flashes of brilliance from classy players such as Brahim Díaz, a Real Madrid player and shining star of the Moroccan national team, Ayoub El Kaabi, Achraf Hakimi, considered one of the best attacking full-backs in the world, Azzedine Ounahi, who was injured in the final stages of the competition, Abde Ezzalzouli and Youssef En-Nesyri.
Brahim, from heaven to hell
Brahim Díaz was one of the big names in the Moroccan national team, the man on whom much of the offensive responsibility and the creation of dangerous chances for Walid Regragui's team fell.
The Real Madrid player did not have the option of playing for Spain because he was not called up by the Spanish senior team, and Morocco saw the opportunity to incorporate the talented attacking midfielder due to his Moroccan origins, despite being from Malaga, a city in southern Spain.
Since making his debut with Morocco, Brahim Díaz's history with the Atlas Lions has been impeccable, and he has been warmly welcomed by both his teammates and the fans, who saw Brahim as the perfect addition to further boost the aspirations of the Moroccan team that reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar.
After some very good official qualifying matches and excellent statistics, Brahim arrived at the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations organised by Morocco as a key player in a national team that also boasted excellent players such as Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bono, Azzedine Ounahi and Abde Ezzalzouli.
In fact, Morocco reached the final against Senegal with impeccable statistics and performance, although they had difficulties in some matches to qualify, such as in the semi-finals against Nigeria, where Morocco finally won on penalties after a goalless draw against the Nigerian team, with Brahim becoming the tournament's top scorer with five goals, despite not being a natural striker.
But fate would have it that Morocco lost the final to Senegal after a fateful penalty kick by Brahim just as the match was ending.
Epic scenario
The decisive moment of the final was dramatic and epic. With heavy rain falling on the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the final minutes of a hard-fought final were approaching, in which Morocco and Senegal had had their chances to take the lead and win the match.
Senegal saw Congolese referee Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo disallow a goal for a very harsh foul on Achraf Hakimi, and almost immediately afterwards, the video assistant referee instructed Ndala Ngambo to review a possible penalty on Brahim, which was eventually awarded and strongly protested by Senegal.
Then came the moment of tragedy for Brahim, who was tasked with taking the penalty and decided to take it Panenka-style, softly and a little high, hoping to fool goalkeeper Édouard Mendy. But the shot was terrible and Mendy caught it without any difficulty.
All this came after a moment to forget in which several members of the Senegalese team threatened to abandon the match, including coach Pape Thiaw, believing that the referee was stealing the game. It was a very compromising situation that could have ended with the suspension of the match due to Senegal's abandonment and an automatic victory for Morocco, albeit in a dishonourable manner.
Some players, such as Senegalese captain Sadio Mané, brought some sense to the situation and the match resumed after a quarter of an hour of Senegal threatening to walk off. Then came the tragic moment for Brahim, who missed the penalty spectacularly, sending the match into extra time, where an exceptional goal into the top corner by Pape Gueye sealed the victory for Senegal.
From then on, it was the hardest and most bitter moment for Brahim, who broke down completely and showed his regret and acceptance of responsibility to the whole of Morocco. You only had to see the look on his face when he collected his awards in the final, such as the top scorer award and the African runner-up medal. There was no consolation for Brahim with an entire country disappointed at seeing their dream of winning an African football championship, which had eluded them for 50 years, frustrated. ‘My soul hurts,’ Brahim Díaz's words sum up the feeling after the heavy disappointment suffered.