Senegal at the World Cup: Semi-finals the target after AFCON title drama, says El Hadji Diouf
Senegal were stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title in March after beating Morocco in dramatic circumstances two months before; Pape Thiaw's side are aiming for the World Cup semi-finals and are in Group I with France, Norway and Iraq; they begin their campaign on June 17
Sunday 14 June 2026 06:13, UK
If you want to talk about dramatic build-ups to a World Cup, get in touch with Senegal.
They won a dramatic Africa Cup of Nations final in January, in which the team were ordered off the pitch by boss Pape Thiaw after referee Jean-Jacques Ndala pointed to the spot in stoppage time following a VAR check for Malick Diouf's challenge on Brahim Diaz.
The final was goalless at the time, and, after a 16-minute delay, former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane bought his team back out to continue the game. Edouard Mendy saved Diaz's eventual penalty, before Pape Gueye scored the winner in extra-time.
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However, their protest saw Senegal stripped of the AFCON title two months later by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) appeal board. That did not stop the team parading the trophy before a friendly against Peru later that month, with the case set to be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
This summer, Senegal will be hoping for a trophy win without doubt at the World Cup. As things stands, they are heading into the competition as AFCON's runners-up - although try telling anyone in the African country that.
Two huge tournaments, just months apart, might sound like a daunting task, but for former Senegal forward El Hadji Diouf, AFCON was the perfect preparation.
"AFCON was the warm-up for the World Cup. We know we're so good," he exclusively told Sky Sports at a PUMA launch event for Senegal's World Cup kit. "People know Senegal is not just a good team - it's an institution of football now.
The new kit is wonderful. I called Sadio Mane to show him the new kit. It's a good material and with this kit, we're ready to win the World Cup.
"We have wonderful players, a wonderful group and the whole continent supporting us because we have players who play not for Senegal only, but play for the whole continent week after week, like Sadio Mane, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly.
"Now they have to be a machine and they have to be ready for all tournaments. I know mentally, we're ready to play any competition.
"Going to the World Cup for us now, it's normal. At this World Cup, we have an objective - we want to reach the semi-final. We have big players, we have a good group and we won the Africa Cup of Nations.
"We leave it all in the hands of CAS and we're going to see what happens. I think the whole world has been shocked for that decision, but that's life. Senegal believes of the seriousness of the football of the world and of FIFA."
Senegal have already fired warning shots to the international community in the last year. In June, they beat England 3-1 at Wembley in a friendly, before going on to win 2-0 away to Brazil. One such result might be isolated, but two is a statement.
Thiaw's men will be aiming to surpass their best World Cup finish of a quarter-final in their first appearance in 2002 - and there are some parallels to this summer's tournament.
Their first match was against France, stunning the then holders 1-0 in the group stage. This year? Their opening match is against Les Bleus, who were runners-up in Qatar.
Diouf, who played in that match in 2002, said: "We beat the best team of the world with Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu, Fabian Barthez.
"They used to be the World Cup winners, they used to be European Cup winners, but winning against big teams is not always about having talent. It's about everything coming from your heart.
"That game [against France] we know is a massive game. The whole Senegalese community is waiting for the victory of Senegal like in 2002.
"What do you say to our boys? You can do it. If you beat Brazil, if you beat England in England, you can beat any team. It's all about belief.
"We also know Norway have a good team and we're going to respect them. But we're going to play the same style of game we played in the Africa Cup of Nations - keeping the ball, working hard and try to score goals."
There has been some previous discourse of players with African heritage choosing to play for France, but Diouf has seen real strides made for Senegal, that has fed in to their own success.
He added: "I can only talk for my country, because when we used to lose a lot, people used to laugh at us.
"But we used to work behind [the scenes] on the academies. Today, you see the Senegalese national team, most of the boys are coming from Senegal, they used to play for the academies in Senegal.
"These players are used to playing with each other for the last 15 years and that's why we are so successful.
"We just want to show the world how good we are everywhere. People are talking about our first team, but if you see our U17s, U18s, U20s, some day they can come and play for the first team.
"And why not be the first African team to get to play the final of the World Cup? If they put that on their mind, they can do it."
El Hadji Diouf was speaking at PUMA's 'Rolling Nations' event in New York, where the brand unveiled the kits of 11 nations that will be participating in this summer's tournament. The kits are available now at PUMA.com.
