The national team of Senegal, which was a French colony until 1960, played its first qualifier for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. After that, the “Lions of Teranga” missed out on a finals ticket six more times. Twelve years later, the Senegalese side reached the quarter-finals at the 2002 edition in South Korea and Japan at the first attempt.
That remained a flash in the pan for the time being, as “The Lions of Teranga” failed to qualify for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups. After finishing at the 2018 World Cup after the group stage, the newly-crowned African champions are in the starting blocks for only the second time in a row at a finals.
Aliou Cissé, now 46, was part of the legendary Senegalese national team that qualified for the 2002 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals. After his career ended, the former defensive midfielder served as interim coach of the senior national team in 2012. For the next three years, Cissé coached the U23/Olympic side before succeeding Frenchman Alain Giresse in March 2015.
The vast majority of Senegal’s team players are contracted to the top European nations and many of them earn their money in the highest divisions. Team captain Kalidou Koulibaly is the head of defence at the Italian top club Napolidar. In addition, goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and attacker Sadio Mané are key players at top English clubs Chelsea and Liverpool.
Senegal defeated Egypt on penalties in the third round of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The finalists of the 2021 Africa Cup competed against each other. Earlier, the “Lions of Teranga” took first place in Group H of the second phase with 16 points ahead of Togo, Namibia and the Republic of Congo.
Senegal will first face Qatar, Ecuador and the Netherlands in Group A at the 2022 World Cup. The “Oranjes” are the favourites to win the group. Behind them, the “Lions of Teranga” are the most promising candidates for second place. After that, there are definitely chances of a second quarter-final appearance at a World Cup finals.
World number 32 Egypt is the only national team at a certain level that 20th-ranked Senegal faced after the autumn of 2020. This involved one win, one draw and one defeat away from extra time. In contrast, the “Lions of Teranga” have yet to play a match against Qatar and against the Netherlands. Two friendly matches against Ecuador in 2002 and 2005 ended with just as many victories (2:1, 1:0).
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Other teams in the 2022 World Cup Group A:
