Senegal beat Egypt on penalties to win their first African cup

Senegal have won their first African Cup of Nations title by beating Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shootout.

Sadio Mane scored the winning spot kick to start the celebrations on Sunday and make up for missing a penalty in the seventh minute of the game.

The final had ended 0-0 after extra time.

Senegal had lost two finals previously, including at the last African Cup in Egypt in 2019, when Mane was left inconsolable.

This time he delivered the winning moment.

The final at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde, Cameroon, was billed as a battle between Liverpool stars Mane of Senegal and Mohamed Salah of Egypt but it never reached those heights.

Exhausted Egypt miss two shootout

Senegal missed a series of chances, including Mane's early penalty, which was saved by Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal.

Apart from blocking the Mane penalty in regular time, Abou Gabal made a string of superb saves to keep Senegal goalless in the final, and he wept after the shootout loss.

Abou Gabal came to Cameroon as the second choice behind Mohamed Elshenawy, whose tournament was cut short after an injury in the last-16 clash with the Ivory Coast.

Egypt appeared exhausted after all three of its previous knockout games also went to extra time and seemed to be playing for a shootout in a bid to win a record-extending eighth African title.

Egypt won shootouts in the last 16 and the semifinals to get to the final but missed two penalties in Sunday's shootout.

Golden boot goes to Cameroon captain 

Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar received the Golden Boot award for finishing leading scorer with eight goals, including two in a dramatic third place victory over Burkina Faso on the eve of the final.

He just missed matching the single Cup of Nations tournament record of nine goals set in 1974 by now deceased Ndaye Mulamba of Zaire (later renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo).