According to Tasnim news agency, one of the contenders for promotion from Group A of the 2022 Qatar World Cup football competition is the Senegal team; A team that, thanks to its stars, hopes to be able to repeat the good memories of the past and once again reach at least the quarter-final stage of the biggest football tournament in the world.
Senegal’s third appearance in the World Cup
Senegal will experience its third appearance in the World Cup. The first appearance of this team goes back to the 2002 World Cup; The event was accompanied by the brilliance of Senegal and this team reached the second place in its group in the presence of France, Uruguay and Denmark and went to the round of 16.
The superiority in the opening match against France caused the name of Senegal to become popular much earlier than expected, of course, the surprises of the Lions of Teranga continued and Sweden was also defeated by this team, but Turkey, with a goal scored in the first overtime, ended the case. He stopped Senegal in the quarter-finals.
16 years passed between Senegal’s first and second appearances; Until this team qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. A win, a draw and a loss in Group H made the team under the leadership of Aliu Cisse to be on equal footing with Japan. The only thing that caused Japan to rise and Senegal to stand in the third place and to be eliminated in the group stage was the issue of fair play and the number of cards of the two teams, the samurai had less cards and advanced.
Now, Senegal is going to appear in the World Cup for the third time and come to the Asian continent once again, so that maybe it can repeat the performance of 2002 in 2022.
The way to participate in the World Cup
Senegal to participate in the World Cup; He played 8 games and with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, he got the right to participate in Qatar. In the second round of the qualifiers, this team was grouped with Togo, Namibia and Congo in Group H and went to the third stage with 16 points and standing at the top of the group.
The third qualifying round was accompanied by the confrontation between Senegal and Egypt; The two teams that faced each other a few months ago in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt won the first leg 1-0, but Senegal repeated the same result in the second leg to go to penalty kicks. In the penalty shootout, the Senegalese fans threw lasers at the faces of the Egyptian players, completely disrupting their concentration, so that three players of this team, including Mohamed Salah, ruined their penalty. In the end, Senegal won 3-1 and took a step to the 2022 World Cup.
Alio Cisse pursues big dreams
Aliu Cisse will lead the Senegal national team in the World Cup; A 46-year-old coach who is experiencing his second appearance in the World Cup and is looking for new events.
Cisse became Senegal coach in March 2015 and led the team to the 2018 World Cup after beating South Africa 2-0. In 20119, he managed to lead Senegal to the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, although his students lost to Algeria in the final match and did not reach the cup. Two years later, in 2021, Cisse again made Algeria the finalist of the Africa Cup, and this time, his team became the African champion for the first time in history by winning against Egypt.
Cisse, who captained the Lions of Taranga at the 2002 World Cup, will be hoping to build on his good form as Senegal coach with a good performance at the World Cup.
A team full of stars
Senegal has many players in prestigious European leagues, each of whom is influential in their teams. Chelsea goalkeeper Edward Mendy, Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly, Everton midfielder Edrisa Gana Gue, 24-year-old Milan player Foude Balo Toure, Bayern Munich striker Sadio Mane and… are among Senegal’s stars in the World Cup. Certainly, among these players, the name of Sadio Mane will be on the tongue more than others.
2022 performance
This year, Senegal has played 20 official and friendly games so far, with 14 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses. The last game of this team was a friendly match against Iran, which ended 1-1.