Pape Gueye scored two goals as Senegal came from behind to beat Sudan 3-1 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), ending their opponents’ stirring run played out against the backdrop of the country’s ongoing civil war.
Aamir Abdallah’s stunning opener, curled across the diving Edouard Mendy in the sixth minute, briefly allowed Sudanese fans to dream of a huge upset in Tangier.
Mendy was then forced into an excellent stop low to his right from Mohamed Eisa’s angled shot midway through the first half before Senegal, driven on by the incessant drumming of their fans, slowly began to turn the screw.
Nicolas Jackson should have scored just before the half hour, with his close-range effort well blocked by goalkeeper Monged Elneel, but just seconds later Gueye stroked home his first from 18 yards.
The Villarreal midfielder, who was constantly finding space on the edge of Sudan’s penalty area, grabbed his second in first-half injury time, side-footing high past Elneel from 16 yards.
Mendy made another fine save to deny impressive right-back Sheddy Barglan at the start of the second half, but from that point on it always felt as if the Teranga Lions were able to hold their determined opponents at arm’s length.
Paris St-Germain teenager Ibrahim Mbaye raced away in the 77th minute to add the gloss to a scoreline which will see Senegal remain in Tangier for a quarter-final next Friday against Mali or Tunisia, who face off in Saturday’s late game (19:00 GMT).
Sudan came into this match having never beaten Senegal – and also without scoring a goal of their own at the tournament so far.
The Falcons of Jediane made it out of their group courtesy of an own goal in their 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea, reaching the second round of Afcon for just the second time since they were champions in 1970.
Few gave them hope of making it any further, even with Senegal missing suspended captain Kalidou Koulibaly, but Abdallah’s opener was a strike worthy of the big stage.
Cutting in from the right, he made just enough room up against full-back Ismail Jakobs to curl a beautiful left-foot effort into the top left corner.
That did not stop the unceasing cacophony of noise rolling around this cavernous 75,600-seater stadium, which was marked by pockets of Senegalese colour throughout.
Crystal Palace forward Ismaila Sarr fired straight at Elneel and Sadio Mane failed to keep another shot down as Senegal probed without quite finding their tempo.
But Mendy’s save from Eisa seemed finally to spark Pape Thiaw’s side into life.
Having swapped to the right side of the pitch, Mane’s pull-back picked out Gueye perfectly for his first goal in the 29th minute before another attack down the same flank looked to have given Senegal a second.
Sarr raced clear, only to be brought down by Elneel, with the referee immediately pointing to the spot just as the assistant referee raised his flag for offside.
After an inordinately long wait for the video assistant referee (VAR), the on-field decision was upheld, and Sarr had another effort chalked off for offside not long after.
By this point, Sudan were struggling to hold off their opponents and Gueye’s second goal arrived in first-half injury time.
Once more the VAR was needed to check a close offside call but this time adjudged that Sarr was onside when making a run in behind in the build-up.
The second half was a less action-packed affair, with Thiaw able to rotate through a series of substitutes, although the winning coach did not turn to Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye, who was named on the bench after being a doubt with an ankle injury.
While Mendy saved from Barglan early in the second period, Senegal full-back Krepin Diatta made a brave last-ditch tackle to deny Al Gozoli Nooh a potential chance late on.
It was left to 17-year-old Mbaye, who only made his international debut in November, to give the fans a taste of his burgeoning talent, winning a footrace against Sudan skipper Bakhit Khamis, holding off the defender and firing high into the net from a tight angle.
With Senegal exhibiting their strength in depth, there can be no doubting the 2021 Afcon champions will be contenders once more.
Sudan, who knocked out four-time champions Ghana in qualifying, gave hope to their nation, but their inspirational journey ends here.
