Salah Misses AFCON Title World Cup Tickets Surge Arbeloa Struggles

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It’s not always easy to know what Mohamed Salah wants. But he wanted an Africa Cup of Nations title, and it’s slipped through his fingers again.

Salah Misery: Mane’s Senegal Sink Egypt as Liverpool Forward’s Search for Title Continues

For Mohamed Salah, 2025-26 is destined to be remembered as the year of the wry smile. He wore it again in Morocco last night as the Africa Cup of Nations got away from him once more. If Salah has another shot at the continental tournament in 2027—he’ll be 35 then—defeat in the semi-finals on Wednesday underlined the fact that this isn’t his season. AFCON remains a notable blank on his CV—the medal he can’t quite win. He’s got the joys of a third-place play-off at the weekend now, before a flight home to Liverpool to make the best of the continuing awkwardness there.

Egypt’s 1-0 loss to Senegal in Tangier was, objectively, well deserved. They were negative and disconnected; blessed with Salah and Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush up front but seemingly devoid of the will or imagination to service either of them. They’d barely fashioned anything in attack by the time the tie dragged into second-half stoppage time, and there was no Salah magic.

Instead, the evening belonged to his old Liverpool team-mate, Sadio Mane. Senegal and Mane have given Egypt the treatment before, beating them in the 2021 AFCON final and a 2022 World Cup play-off. Senegal controlled last night’s tie without doing much to make anybody remember a great deal about it in 20 years.

With chances of note so scarce, Mane did what common sense told him to do when the ball sat up for him in the 78th minute: put his boot through it. There’s a reason why he and Salah had a slightly love-hate relationship in their time together at Anfield. Both are main characters, and both are in it to win it—Mane every bit as much.

Morocco One Game From History

Senegal’s task in Sunday’s final is to burst the bubble of hosts Morocco. The Moroccans navigated a turgid spell of normal time, extra-time and penalties to beat Nigeria in the other semi. A raucous crowd were pivotal in dragging them over the line.

Nigeria coach Eric Chelle took a huge gamble by substituting top striker Victor Osimhen with three minutes of the extra-time period to go. Nigeria are famously philosophical in the face of failure, so doubtless Chelle’s decisions will be taken with good grace. Morocco ranked as favorites before a ball was kicked and they’ll be favorites on Sunday. Playing at home and with their tails up, there’s a definite sense of name-on-cup.

Cameroon Football Federation president Samuel Eto’o has been given a four-game ban for his behavior in the aftermath of Cameroon’s quarter-final loss to Morocco. We haven’t been told what precisely he was cited for.

News Round-up

Most clicked in Wednesday’s TAFC: the inside track on Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid dismissal. The podcast dissecting it is available for free.

Managing Expectations: Early Defeats for Arbeloa and Rosenior at Real Madrid and Chelsea

“Here, one thing is important,” said Alvaro Arbeloa when Real Madrid unveiled him as their new head coach. “Winning.”

Quite so. With that in mind, Arbeloa is waking up from a bad sleep. The post-Xabi Alonso era is live and it started terribly yesterday, with a 3-2 Copa del Rey defeat to Albacete. Madrid were hanging in throughout before Jefte Betancor did them in. Arbeloa’s line-up wasn’t strong but it wasn’t a joke XI either.

Also experiencing a not-quite-as-easy-as-it-looks moment last night was Liam Rosenior in his first home match as Chelsea head coach. Two Alejandro Garnacho goals kept their Carabao Cup semi-final alive (with the second leg to come), but it’s advantage Arsenal after a 3-2 away win. Flaky defending left no doubt that Rosenior has a job on his hands.

Fan Ban Fallout: ‘No Confidence’ in Police Chief After Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Villa Decision

The banning of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters from the club’s Europa League game at Aston Villa in November was controversial. West Midlands Police shut out Israeli fans—and therefore many Jews—from a major English football ground.

The decision was taken against the backdrop of the crisis in Gaza and justified by West Midlands Police on the grounds that an away contingent at Villa Park in Birmingham would pose a security risk. The tie ultimately passed off without much incident.

A report into West Midlands Police’s intelligence gathering found that it erroneously included details of a past Europa League match involving Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Ham United in London in 2023—a game which never actually took place. West Midlands Police’s chief constable, Craig Guildford, apologized for the error but home secretary Shabana Mahmood said Guildford “no longer has my confidence.”

Catch a Match

Copa del Rey last 16: Racing Santander vs Barcelona, 3pm/8pm — ESPN/Premier Sports.
Serie A: Como vs Milan, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, DAZN/TNT Sports, DAZN.
German Bundesliga: Augsburg vs Union Berlin, 2.30pm/7.30pm — ESPN (U.S. only).

And Finally…

If this miss from Bertug Yildirim — midway through Basaksehir’s second-round win over Boluspor — is par for the course in the Turkish Cup, sign me up.