How Senegal were able to beat England in historic friendly win

How Senegal were able to beat England in historic friendly win

Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw said his team were able to beat England on Tuesday because they wanted to preserve their unbeaten run, Afrosport reports.

The Teranga Lions were on a 21-game unbeaten streak going into the international friendly at the City Ground, stretching back to September 2023. They however fell behind when Harry Kane gave the Three Lions the lead after just seven minutes.

Undeterred by the deficit, Senegal found their way back in remarkable fashion, starting with Crystal Palace winger Ismaila Sarr levelling matters in the 40th minute before Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly added their names on the scoresheet in the second half to seal the victory.

It marked the first time an African team defeated England, while Senegal’s 22-game unbeaten run is the longest of any national team in the world at the moment.

Speaking after the game, Thiaw said: “I think we showed a great mentality, we came back, managed to equaliser just before half-time. Then the second half, we were able to pose our own game a little bit more, we scored the two goals in order to win, what was a great victory for us. It was great to be able to win here, at a country imbued with football.

“Our aim when we were out on the pitch was not to lose, as we wanted to maintain our 21-match unbeaten streak and take it to 22 matches. Now, in a couple of months, we have two big, big qualifying games coming up, so our focus is now going to be on those games.”

Meanwhile, Senegal captain and Al-Hilal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly stated he had confidence in the team to cause an upset on English soil.

“Fantastic night. We knew we could do something in this game,” the former Chelsea player said.

“It was a tough game, but we showed our personality and showed we can play at this level.”

He added: “It is fantastic. We are not used to making history, and we made it when we won Afcon, and we made it tonight,” he said.

“We want to continue writing the story of Senegal. We wanted to show we have a good nation.”


Senegal will turn their attention next to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, where they will face Sudan and DR Congo in crunch ties in September.

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