World Cup 2018: Senegal

World Cup | Opinion

03/06/18

Senegal burst onto the scene at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan when they defeated defending champions France in the opening game of the tournament. The Lions of Teranga went on to reach the quarter-final of the event before being eliminated by Turkey.

That was the first time Senegal were in-front of the world and they have failed to return to the tournament since. Therefore, the 2018 World Cup will be only the second in their history and Senegal would be delighted if they could match their achievements of 16 years ago.

Qualifying for the 2018 World Cup started with a tie against Madagascar and while Senegal were always favourites to go through, they were held to a 2-2 in the first leg away from home. However, they made little mistake in the second leg, winning 3-0 on home soil.

Into the third round and Senegal had arguably one of the easier draws of all the nations fancied to progress to Russia. Grouped with South Africa, Cape Verde and Burkina Faso, Senegal won 4 of their 6 games and were undefeated as they topped the group, 5 points clear of second place Burkina Faso.

Only Morocco qualified for the 2018 World Cup from Africa with a better defensive record than Senegal and that defence is going to be put to the test against Poland and Colombia. However, with Japan also in their group, Aliou Cissé’s players will feel they have a chance of making it to the knockout stages of the tournament.

The Senegal squad for the 2018 World Cup features many players from the top European leagues. There are several playing in the French Ligue 1 and the English Premier League.

In defence, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly is the key man and will be responsible for keeping Senegal organised in defensive situations. He is strong and has the pace to recover and make crucial tackles and could be joined by Anderlecht’s Kara Mbodji, if he recovers from a knee injury in time.

Each of the five main midfield players in the Senegal squad play their club football in England. Cheikhou Kouyaté is the captain and is set to be joined by Everton’s Idrissa Gueye in the centre of the pitch. The pair have over 100 caps between for their country and will be expected to add some experience and quality in the midfield.

However, Senegal’s main man is Liverpool forward, Sadio Mané. Despite suffering disappointment in the Champions League final, Mané scored Liverpool’s only goal of the game and hit the post meaning he is in good form ahead of the World Cup.

Cissé has plenty of options in attack but the form and fitness of Mané will be key to Senegal’s chances of reaching the Round of 16. If they can keep it tight at the back in the games against Colombia and Poland, Senegal are always going to be a threat on the counter-attack.

The second match against Japan could be crucial and if Senegal can win that game, they will go into the final group game against Colombia knowing a win would see them through. Group H could be the tightest group of the tournament, with Poland, Colombia and Senegal all believing they can progress.