Senegal becomes the first nation from West Africa to win the African Nations Championship CHAN title after defeating hosts Algeria 5-4 in a penalty shootout.

Both teams played to a goalless 90 minutes plus extra time on Saturday at the Stade de Nelson Mandela in front of 39,120 spectators on a cold winter night.

The victory marked Senegal’s first-ever CHAN trophy, just a year after winning the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2021 (held in 2022) after overcoming Egypt on penalties in the final. It was Senegal’s first-ever triumph at the continental showpiece.

Despite the disappointment of losing on home soil, fans of the Desert Foxes, who were present at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in the southern suburbs of Algiers, cheered on the players as they made it to the CHAN final for the first time.

Senegal’s head coach, Pape Bouna Thiaw, acknowledged the strong mentality of his young Lions.

“The young team have suffered in a match like that,” he noted. “We played against a good team in Algeria, which didn’t concede any goals and scored lots of goals in this tournament.

“We were really ready to suffer – we wanted to honour our country. I think these players showed their character that is why we won this trophy. Congratulation to these kids.”

They also won the Fair Play prize at the 2022 African Nations Championship (CHAN).

This tournament is for players playing in home domestic competitions. The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Morocco are the most successful teams in this competition, with two titles each, followed by Tunisia, Libya and Senegal a title, respectively.

TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN)

Connect with us @football_sierra on Facebook/ Instagram, Football Sierra Leone, and African News.