Last night’s AFCON was proof again that football is never really about the game. It’s about history, identity, power, and last night, more than anything, it was about African politics.

Yes, Senegal won in a tense match full of drama, including a late missed penalty that could’ve changed the entire story, but most people weren’t watching for tactics or highlights. We knew that Senegal was the better team; they were the most complete team in the tournament, but even with that, we knew yesterday wasn’t going to be decided by skill alone. We were watching because the final already carried meaning before the ball even moved.

And you could feel it across the continent, so much of Africa was backing Senegal.

Not because Morocco isn’t a great team. They are, but because Senegal felt like “us” in a way Morocco didn’t. That difference matters because support is never neutral. When people choose a side, they’re also choosing a story. They’re choosing what feels familiar, what feels truthful, what feels like home.

Senegal represented the Africa that many of us know deeply: the Africa that is often underestimated, robbed, and expected to prove itself just to be respected. The Africa that gets overlooked but still shows up with pride. Senegal didn’t feel like a country playing for approval. Senegal felt like a country playing because it belongs here.

Morocco, on the other hand, comes with a tension that a lot of Africans don’t always know how to explain, but we all recognize it. That feeling that North African countries sometimes don’t see themselves as African, the same way the rest of us do. Like, there’s always a distance. Always a separation. Always a quiet sense of “we’re not the same.”

History doesn’t help that feeling disappear. Morocco once applied to join the European Union and was rejected, but what many Africans took from that wasn’t diplomacy; it was a message. That you’d rather be there than here. Europe is the dream. Africa is just the location.

So last night didn’t feel like Senegal vs Morocco.

It felt like Senegal vs a version of Africa that wants to escape Africa.

It felt like the Africa that gets looked down on, playing against the Africa that is often treated as “closer” to Europe, which really means closer to the world’s approval and closer to being seen as acceptable.

That’s why Senegal winning landed like more than a trophy. It felt like a release. Like a correction. Like the Africa that gets dismissed, finally beating the Africa that sometimes benefits from distance.

And this is where Sadio Mané becomes more than a player. His story explains the feeling perfectly.

Mané is the type of African greatness the world can’t fully control. He doesn’t need to become something else to be taken seriously. He doesn’t have to dilute his identity, soften his roots, or perform respectability to be considered world-class. He can be from Senegal, look Senegalese, move like Senegal, and still stand among football’s elites without apology.

That’s why Senegal feels like Africa without conditions.

Maybe that’s the deeper reason so many people supported them last night because Africa loves talking about unity, but unity has limits. We’re one continent until race, history, and proximity to Europe enter the conversation. Then suddenly, we remember that Africa doesn’t always feel like a family and that sometimes it feels like a hierarchy.

So yes, Senegal won AFCON last night, but what really stood out is why so many of us needed them to win. Last night wasn’t only about who played the best football; it was about who represents Africa when Africa is watching itself!