Morocco crowned CHAN 2024 champions after 3-2 thriller against Madagascar

Morocco edges Madagascar 3-2 to clinch CHAN 2024 crown in Kasarani thriller

Morocco became champions of Africa’s home-based talent once again, outlasting Madagascar 3-2 in a breathless African Nations Championship (CHAN) final at Kasarani Stadium on August 30. In a match that swung like a metronome, the Atlas Lions twice surrendered a lead before Oussama Lamlioui’s late strike handed them their third CHAN title and a new piece of African football history.

A final that swung like a pendulum

The night began with a dart of Malagasy belief. Félicité Mantasoa stunned Morocco with a crisp finish in the ninth minute, the kind that hushes a stadium and sends neutral fans searching for a fairy tale. For Madagascar, a footballing nation that has built a reputation on heart and surprise, the dream start resonated with the traveling brass bands and a Kenyan crowd that knows how to adopt a new favorite for the night.

But Morocco, schooled by years of deep tournament runs and buoyed by a richly competitive domestic league, kept their composure. Youssef Mehri leveled in the 27th minute, the Moroccan midfield knitting passes until the seam finally opened. Just before the break, in the 44th minute, Lamlioui tilted the final Morocco’s way with a strike that felt like a veteran’s note-to-self: finals reward patience.

Madagascar would not fade. In the 68th minute, Toky Rakotondraibe punctured Moroccan control with a finish full of nerve, bringing the scores level and sending tension ricocheting off Kasarani’s concrete ribs. For a stretch, the final became a staring contest—two teams daring the other to blink. The decisive moment came in the 80th minute, Lamlioui again, side-footing Morocco into a 3-2 lead that held firm through anxious stoppage time.

As the whistle blew, the celebrations rolled across the stands in waves: flags draped, drums in full gallop, hands to the sky. In an era when African football keeps producing new chapters of ambition and self-belief, Morocco’s players formed a circle in the center of the pitch—third-time champions, made at home, polished for the world.

A third star for a growing power

This was Morocco’s third CHAN title after triumphs in 2018 and 2020, and it arrives with symbolic heft. In 2018, the Atlas Lions became the first host nation to lift CHAN, and in 2020 they became the first to retain it. They did not take part in the 2022 edition, but the 2024 win is a reminder: Morocco’s footballing architecture is built to last.

Ranked 12th in FIFA’s world rankings and still riding the afterglow of a men’s World Cup semifinal run in 2022, Morocco is emerging as a standard-setter across the African game. Under coach Tarik Sektioui, the CHAN squad—restricted to players active in the domestic Botola Pro and lower tiers—has become a showcase of depth and identity. The country’s domestic clubs, from Wydad Casablanca and Raja to FAR Rabat, provide a conveyor belt of talent and tactical schooling. The raw material is local; the polish is professional.

Madagascar’s rise continues

For Madagascar, the night was bittersweet but far from bleak. The island nation has surprised the continent before—most memorably reaching the Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals in 2019—and this CHAN run reaffirms that progress is being made in the domestic game. Their players pressed bravely, carried a threat in transition, and endured periods of Moroccan pressure without losing their nerve.

There is steel in what Madagascar is building. The country’s league system has been tightening, clubs are finding new ways to develop young players, and the national teams—at all levels—don’t approach big occasions as visitors anymore. In that sense, a five-goal final against the continent’s most reliable CHAN side is not just a loss; it’s a marker.

Why CHAN matters to Africa—and beyond

CHAN, which ran this year from August 2 to August 30, is a tournament with a clear mission: to spotlight home-based talent that often toils in the shadows of Europe-centric attention. Only players plying their trade in their country’s domestic leagues are eligible, making the event a referendum on local coaching, club infrastructure, and the week-to-week grind of national competitions.

Look closely at a CHAN final and you see an entire ecosystem at work. Scouts perched in the stands. Coaches weighing whether a midfielder can translate a cool head in Kasarani to a continental Champions League tie. Federation officials taking notes on what sort of training facilities and investment are moving the needle. In the age of viral highlights, CHAN is a tournament that rewards the deafeningly unglamorous: consistency, shape, decision-making under pressure.

It also mirrors where African football is heading. Domestic leagues—from Morocco’s Botola to Tanzania’s NBC Premier League and South Africa’s DStv Premiership—are becoming better financed, better marketed, and better attended. The more those leagues grow, the more CHAN becomes a true test of depth rather than a consolation prize for those outside the European conveyor belt.

Key moments and numbers

• Final: Morocco 3, Madagascar 2 at Kasarani Stadium on August 30
• Goals: Madagascar—Félicité Mantasoa (9’), Toky Rakotondraibe (68’); Morocco—Youssef Mehri (27’), Oussama Lamlioui (44’, 80’)
• Morocco’s CHAN titles: 2018, 2020, 2024 (first nation with three CHAN crowns)
• Previous finals: 2018—4-0 vs Nigeria (Casablanca); 2020—2-0 vs Mali
• Appearances: Morocco has featured in five editions (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2024); the team did not participate in 2022
• Coach: Tarik Sektioui
• FIFA world ranking: Morocco is 12th

What it means now

For Morocco’s players, a CHAN medal can be career-altering. It can mean a transfer to a bigger domestic club, a shot at the A-team for World Cup qualifying, or a test against continental heavyweights in CAF club competitions. It also reflects a structural truth: when a league consistently produces CHAN-level performers, it shortens the path between local hero and international contributor.

For Madagascar, the road ahead will focus on keeping this squad’s core together, lifting standards at club level, and staying visible. Finals like this do not exist in a vacuum; they echo into the next window of qualifiers and the next crop of hopefuls watching on a field back home. If the island’s football leaders can bottle the composure and belief their team showed in Kasarani, momentum will not be hard to find.

And for CHAN itself, another dramatic final serves as its best sales pitch. In a game of small margins and big dreams, five goals and a late winner are the kind of memories that lodge in a fan’s mind—and in a scout’s notebook.

In the soft glow of the stadium lights, as flags were folded and drums quieted, Morocco’s players lifted a trophy that tells a bigger story. The continent’s football is not just exporting stars; it’s building them at home. On this night, that was enough to settle a final—and perhaps say something enduring about where the African game is headed.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.