The Desert Foxes are the new African champions!

When all was said and done, it was Algeria that successfully cemented its supremacy at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The Desert Foxes staged a solid performance at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday to clinch their first continental trophy in 29 years and their second in history via a narrow 1-0 victory over Senegal.

The encounter was not short of drama and thrilling moments with the only goal of the proceeding coming inside the first two minutes. Bounedjah's deflected strike proved to be more than enough for Les Fennecs although Senegal had multiple opportunities to equalise but made very little use of it.

Quite unfortunately, the Teranga Lions also saw a penalty decision overruled following a VAR review of a handball by Adlene Guediora.

In retrsopect, the journey was quite compelling for the Algerians as they managed to sail through the competition without a single defeat. With three out of three wins at the group stage, Djamel Belmadi's men beat Congo in the Round of 16 and fired past Ivory Coast in the Last 8 through a 4-3 shootout win following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

A cagey penultimate encounter with Nigeria ended in a 2-1 win in favor of the Algerians to set up the date with Senegal. The win for Les Fennecs meant that the AFCON trophy has returned to North Africa for the first time in nine years.