One of Africa's most famous national football teams, Senegal reached thequarter-finals of the2002 FIFA World Cup, the second team from Africa to do so (afterCameroon in1990). They managed to upset defending world championsFrance, finish second in their group, and beatSweden in extra time in the round of 16, before losing toTurkey in thequarter-finals.
Along withNorway, Senegal is one of very few national football teams never to have lost againstBrazil, having one win and one draw in friendly matches.[3]
Senegal gained its independence fromFrance on 4 April 1960, and theSenegalese Football Federation (FSF) was founded that year. The first Senegal match took place on 31 December 1961 against Dahomey (nowBenin), a 3–2 loss. The FSF has been affiliated withFIFA since 1962 and has been a member of theConfederation of African Football (CAF) since 1963. Senegal's first appearance in theAfrica Cup of Nations was in 1965, where they finished second in their group, and lost 1–0 toIvory Coast to finish in fourth place. After a group stage exit at the AFCON three years later, they would not qualify for the tournament until 1986.
In the1990 Africa Cup of Nations, Senegal finished fourth; they hosted the1992 tournament, where after finishing second in their group, they were eliminated by Cameroon in the quarterfinals.Senegal lost the2002 final on apenalty shoot-out after drawing 0–0 withCameroon.[4] Later that year, Senegal made their debut appearance at theWorld Cup. After defeating defending world champions France in their opening game, they drew withDenmark andUruguay to progress from the group stage, then beatSweden in extra time in the round of 16 to reach the quarter-finals, one of only four African teams to do so (alongside Cameroon in1990,Ghana in2010 andMorocco in2022). There, they lost toTurkey in extra time.[5][6]
Senegal qualified for the2008 Africa Cup of Nations, but finished third in their group with two points. They failed to make the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the first World Cup to be held in Africa.
After former managerBruno Metsu died on 14 October 2013, many Senegalese players were recalled to appear and have a moment of silence in memory of the manager who helped them reach the quarter-final in the2002 World Cup. All activities of the national league and the national team were suspended for a few days in his memory.
The West African nation narrowly missed the2014 FIFA World Cup after losing in a round-robin match against Ivory Coast in the final qualification round. Senegal qualified for twoAfrica Cup of Nations tournaments before the next World Cup, being eliminated in the group stage in 2015 and reaching the quarterfinals in 2017. On 10 November 2017, after defeatingSouth Africa 2–0,[7] Senegal qualified for the2018 FIFA World Cup,[8] their first since 2002.[9] Senegal defeatedPoland 2–1 in their opening group match,[10] thanks to anown goal byThiago Cionek and aM'Baye Niang strike.[11] In the next group stage match, Senegal drew 2–2 againstJapan, with goals fromSadio Mané andMoussa Wagué.[12] A 1–0 loss toColombia in their final match[13] meant they finished level on points with Japan, who progressed thanks to a superior fair play record.[14] Thus, Senegal was eliminated in the group stage for the first time in its World Cup history.[15]
Deprived of many players due toCOVID-19, Senegal participated in the2021 Africa Cup of Nations, postponed to 2022 because ofthe pandemic; they beatZimbabwe in their first match 1–0 and drew their next two games, enough to finish first in their group.[19] In the round of 16, Senegal facedCape Verde. Mané recorded a shot that hit the post in the first minute.Patrick Andrade was sent off in the 21st minute, after intervention of thevideo assistant referee. Despite their dominance, the first half ended without a single shot on target; Mané opened the scoring a few minutes into the second half, following a corner.
Senegal facedEquatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals. The Lions opened the scoring half an hour into the game, byFamara Diédhiou on a pass from Mané; Senegal eventually won 3–1.[20] In the semi-finals, Senegal facedBurkina Faso, winning 3–1 again.[21] In thefinal, Senegal facedEgypt, who eliminated hostsCameroon in the semi-finals. In a penalty shoot-out, Mané scored the winning penalty,[22] to bring Senegal its first Africa Cup of Nations title.[23] Senegal returned home and took part in a victory parade that took place in the capital,Dakar. During the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations final, Egyptian goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal, known as Gabaski, used a water bottle with notes indicating the preferred penalty shot directions of Senegalese players.[24]It ended up becoming the biggest party in the country's history.[25]
Senegal faced Egypt twice after the AFCON final, eliminating the Egyptians on penalties after being tied 1–1 on aggregate, to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Mané eliminated hisLiverpool teammateMohamed Salah after scoring the winning penalty again.[26]The penalty shoot-out was however full of controversies with lasers being pointed at Egypt's penalty takers and goalkeeper. FIFA fined Senegal's football federation 175,000 Swiss francs as a result of the fan disorder.[27]
For the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Senegal were drawn in Group A along with the hosts Qatar,Ecuador and the Netherlands. Star man Mané missed out due to injury, but Senegal managed to progress from the group nonetheless. Though they lost their first game against the Netherlands 2–0, Senegal went on to claim six points against the hosts and then Ecuador in their final game, progressing to the Round of 16, where they lost 3–0 toEngland. It marked the second time Senegal had progressed past the group stage, in only their third appearance.
Puma has been the manufacturer of Senegal's kits since 2005 (except 2017, when Romai was the manufacturer). The home kit is typically white, and the away kit is green.
Aliou Cissé, the former coach of the national team from 2015 to 2024, is considered the most successful coach in the team's history, leading the team to win the2021 Africa Cup of Nations and to participate in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. He was the captain of the team that reached the quarter-finals of the2002 FIFA World Cup.Bruno Metsu, coach of the national team between 2000 and 2002, led the team to the final of the2002 African Nations Cup and to participate for the first time in theFIFA World Cup in2002, where it reached the quarter-finals.
DEC Player refused to join the team after the call-up. INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. PRE Preliminary squad. RET Player has retired from international football. SUS Suspended from the national team.
Historically, Senegal was seen as a weaker side in the strongWest African region. Although they finished in fourth place in two AFCON editions,[32] Senegalese performance was overall still deemed as poor. Senegal remained under the shadow of West African giantsNigeria,Ivory Coast andGhana for the majority of the 20th century.
In the 2000s, Senegal began to surge and became a more competitive opponent in the Africa Cup of Nations. Following a successfulFIFA World Cup debut in 2002, in which the side reached the quarter-finals, Senegal established itself as a new powerhouse in Africa. The2002 Africa Cup of Nations tournament marked a defeat toCameroon 2–3 onpenalties after a goalless draw in thefinal.[33] Senegal once again finished as runners-up in2019, losing thefinal 0–1 toAlgeria,[34] and finally won their first AFCON title in2021.
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