Senegal World Cup 2026 team guide

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June. The plan Senegal arrive in North America in fine shape. They dominated their qualification group, becoming one of the first African sides to punch their ticket to the finals. Goals are easy to come by thanks to a freshened-up frontline and the defence is its usual sturdy self. However, Senegal’s history at the World Cup is complex: despite being African champions heading into Qatar 2022, they could not better the record run to the quarter-finals of 2002. They left Morocco in January as African champions once more but have since had their title stripped by the Confederation of African Football after its appeal board decided that Senegal “forfeited the final” when some players left the pitch in protest at Morocco being awarded a late penalty. Their coach, Pape Thiaw, who describes his team as “ambitious outsiders”, has decided to integrate younger players into his squad while moving away from some of the veterans who went to Qatar. This regeneration is evident on the pitch: six of the squad have fewer than 10 caps. “I want to see a team that plays without the weight of the past – I have opted for a faster and younger profile,” Thiaw said. …