This note is issued to commemorate Morocco for hosting the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations football final tournament (AFCON). The Africa Cup of Nations is a biennial football event and this is the 35th tournament played since its inception in February 1957. The tournament started on 21.12.2025 with the final played on 18.01.2026 in Rabat, the capital city of Morocco. This is the second time Morocco has hosted this final. Previously, it hosted the final in 1988. In that final, Cameron won by beating Nigeria 1-0.
This commemorative note illustrates the country's commitment to sports and highlights its new sporting infrastructures.
A total of 24 nations in the African continent qualified for this final and the two final teams were Morocco (the host) and Senegal. Senegal won the tournament by beating Morocco 1-nil in the extra time. As the host nation, no doubt Morocco was the favourite to win. Unfortunately, they were beaten by Senegal this time. This was a very controversial game as Morocco was awarded a penalty in the 98th minutes (normal time plus add-on). Team Senegal was not too happy with the referee's decision and most of the Senegal players walked off the field in protest of the referee's decision, and they only came back after 14th minutes of walking off. As the story goes, the Moroccan player, Brahim Diaz took the spot kick by performing a lame panenka kick, and the ball went straight to the Senegal keeper, Edouard Mendy. IMO, it is never good to miss such a golden opportunity to win for the team and country, and why he tried the panenka kick instead of blasting the ball hard to either side of the goal post. Was it just arrogant or over confident? In a penalty shot, most goalkeepers would just dive to either side hoping to block the ball, but in this instant, Edouard Mendy hardly moved and he managed to catch the ball with both hands. Such a missed opportunity will haunt Brahim Diaz for years to come. As Morocco missed this golden opportunity, Pape Gueye of Senegal finally scored a solo stunning winning goal in the 94th minute of extra time.
Well, you may think that this is the end of the story, but unfortunately it is not. Morocco immediately lodged an appeal with Confederation of Africa Football (Caf) and on 17.03.2026, Caf overturned the result and declared Morocco as the winner and awarded the result as 3-0 in favour of Morocco. The reason given was that once a team refuses to play and leave the ground before the end of regulation time without the referee's authorisation, then the team (Senegal) is considered to have forfeited the match and as such the loser. However, does this only apply to all players walking off or even apply just some of them walked off? Also if this is the case, then why does the referee allow the game to continue? Shouldn't the referee just stop the game and declare Morocco the winner immediately?
And you think this would be the final end to this saga, right? No! On 24.03.2026, Senegal lodged an appeal with Caf against the decision. It was also reported that during a recent friendly game between Senegal and Peru (Senegal won 2-0) played in Paris, France on 28.03.2026, where Senegal paraded the AFCON cup to the crowd/supporters. Obviously, Senegal still have the trophy and will not give this up without a fight. This would be even funnier, if Senegal had issued commemorative coins celebrating this win, which luckily they have not. As of my posting, the winner for the 2026 AFCON cup is still out there. You just can’t see which team or perhaps you see two teams but can't see which one is the clear winner!
Twenty-four nations participated in the final:-
Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Mali, Morocco* (the host, Runner-Up), Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal* (Champion), South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The previous AFCON final in 2023 was won by Cote d'Ivoire. (note * - still in dispute)
The tournament was held in six cities in Morocco, namely - Agadir, Casablanca, Fez, Marrakesh, Rabat and Tangier. Morocco has only won this tournament once in 1976 since it's inception, with Guinea as the first runner-up. In that 1976 final, the tournament final was held in Ethiopia. Back then, only eight nations were qualified in the final and the eight teams were split into two teams with round robin games. The top two teams from the two groups then played another round robin games with Morocco finishing as the top team and as such the winner for the tournament.
It should be noted that in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final held in Qatar, Morocco finished in fourth position, which is the country's best performance in the FIFA World Cup final and also the best finish for an African country since its inception. Despite Morocco finishing 4th in the FIFA 2022 tournament, it failed to finish top 4 in the 2023 AFCON final. They were defeated by South Africa in the Round of 16 knockout stage. Morocco is also one of the co-hosts for the FIFA 2030 World Cup final together with Portugal and Spain. However, this FIFA 2030 final tournament will also be played in Argentina and Paraguay to honor the 100th year of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930. Only one match each will be played in these two South American countries.
In addition to the commemorative note, coins minted in silver and copper alloy were also issued to celebrate this football final event as well.
One Hundred Dirhams
Date - 2025
Watermark - King Mohammed VI and electrotype 100
Sizes - 144.5mm x 70mm
Back - In the center right is a partial inside view of the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex (stadium). To the right is a globe with the African continent and with the map of Morocco highlighted. The globe is printed on top of numeral moving 5-point stars. Below the stadium is a silhouette of men playing football.
It should be noted that the map of Morocco is highlighted on the African map which also includes the Spanish Sahara (also known as Western Sahara) territory, which Morocco occupied in 1976. This territory was once occupied by the Spanish from 1884 to 1976, and Spain gave up this territory due to international pressure mainly from the United Nations. Today, it is still a disputed territory both claimed by Morocco and the Polisario Front, which called this disputed territory as Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. Today, the territory is two-thirds occupied by the Moroccan and the remaining one third by the Polisario Front. Fighting between Morocco and the Polisario Front stopped in 1991 and since then, the dispute is still unresolved. I mentioned this here is that only a few countries recognised Morocco's sovereignty over this disputed territory. Again, there is no right or wrong answer here, just opinions.
Also on the back, the Central Bank's name is also printed with the Tifinagh (Tuareg Berber) language. Tifinagh is also the official language of Morocco and Algeria. I am just wondering if this is the first time the language of Tifinagh is used on Morocco's banknote?
Comment - This is one well overpriced note available in the market. The face value of this note is just over US$10 and yet, the selling price is between 5 to 7 times the value. To pay for this note with this kind of selling price is just ridiculous.
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