Senegal's forward #27 Ibrahim Mbaye (2 L) celebrates scoring his team's third goal with Senegal's forward #09 Boulaye Dia (L) during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) round of 16 football match between Senegal and Sudan at Grand Stadium in Tangiers on January 3, 2026. (Photo by Gabriel BOUYS / AFP)
Tangiers, Morocco: Teenager Ibrahim Mbaye scored four minutes after coming off the bench to clinch a 3-1 victory for Senegal over Sudan in Tangiers on Saturday in the first Africa Cup of Nations last-16 match.
The 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward represented France at age-limit levels before switching his international allegiance to Senegal, where his father was born.
Former champions Senegal will face Mali or Tunisia, who meet in Casablanca later on Saturday, in the quarter-finals.
Rattled by an early Aamir Abdallah goal for Sudan, Senegal recovered to lead 2-1 at half-time through a Pape Gueye brace. Mbaye then put the outcome beyond doubt after 77 minutes.
It was predicable result as Senegal are 99 places higher in the world rankings than Sudan, who were representing a country ravaged by civil war since April 2023.
Senegal made six changes to the team that started a 3-0 win over Botswana in their final group match. A notable absentee was suspended captain and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.
Ghana-born Sudan coach Kwesi Appiah retained only one of the team that began a 2-0 loss to Burkina Faso -- forward Abdallah.
It was the first meeting of the countries at an AFCON tournament. They were in the same 2026 World Cup qualifying group, though, with Senegal winning at home and drawing away.
