There were high expectations for African teams performing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, especially the prospect of reaching the semi-finals for the very first time, and the bulk of it fell on Senegal.
It is not hard to understand why.
The Teranga Lions are the reigning African champions after beating Egypt on penalties at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations held in Cameroon back in January. Apart from that, they are the top-ranked side in Africa and also among the top 20 (18th) in the world heading to Qatar.
One of the reasons for the high expectations of Senegal was their star-studded team spearheaded by Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mane.
Senegal were, however, dealt a blow before the World Cup commenced when Mane suffered a knee injury in a Bundesliga game between Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen. After the injury, doubts began to creep in on how the West African giants would perform without their talisman and all-time top scorer.
It seemed those doubts were justified after Senegal suffered a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands in their opening match.
They responded instantly and won their remaining games against tournament hosts Qatar and Ecuador to finish second in Group A and make it to the Round of 16 for the second time in their history. This at least showed the team could move on without Mane.
Senegal met England in the Round of 16 and support for the African champions was huge, believing they could match the Euro 2020 runners-up.
Unfortunately, Aliou Cisse’s men were torn apart in the space of 10 minutes and ultimately lost 3-0 – Africa’s biggest hope of making it to the semi-finals dashed and gone.
It also raised the question, whether Africa is really ready to go far at the World Cup talkless of winning it.
Senegal might not have made it to the quarter-finals – a record they hold for African teams at the World Cup alongside Cameroon and Ghana – but does that mean they did not do well in Qatar by their high standards?
In their first big test against the Dutch, Cisse’s team produced more shots (15) than the Dutch (10) including shots on target (4).
Senegal’s attacking threat was evidenced by Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert – making his debut – having to make four top saves, in comparison to Edouard Mendy who had just one shot to make all evening.
It was clear Senegal were the better side but they simply didn’t take their chances when it was presented to them.
Against Qatar, Senegal dominated in terms of possession, shots and chances created but against Ecuador, the South Americans had the edge in possession (61%), shots on target (4) and passes.
However, when it came to big chances, shots inside and outside the box, the African giants were ahead. They also had a superior expected goals (xG) of 2.14 compared to Ecuador’s 0.93.
Against England, Senegal were a shadow of themselves and nothing like the efficient team in the group phase.
They were let down by goals on the counter-attack that they could have handled better, without space particularly to Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.
The Senegalese did threaten, with Ismaila Sarr and Boulaye Dia getting close in the first half when the match was still goalless. This was where the golden opportunity was presented for Senegal, had those efforts gone in, the quarter-final would probably have been a rematch of the opening game at the 2002 World Cup game between France and the Teranga Lions which the Africans won 1-0 with Cisse as captain then.
As much as the defeat to England hurts a lot of African fans, it was not really a bad outing for Senegal.
Mane’s presence was definitely missed as he would have offered so much in overall team play asides from trying to find the back of the net. It is also worth noting that midfield lynchpin Idrissa Gueye was suspended for the England match. These should not be excuses but having the strongest squad at one’s disposal makes a lot of difference.
Does this mean Senegal would have won if Mane and Gueye played? Absolutely not, but there’s every chance they would have played much better or even matched England, and that makes a lot of difference.
Africa still has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to matching the more established sides in international football. The talent might be there but the coaching and education need to be better which starts from the grassroots.
It is going to be difficult to have an African side as world champion if the right systems and infrastructure ain’t in place. A look at past champions like Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France and Germany all have well-grounded structures in place that reflect in the quality of players that are produced. Africa should not be doing any less than that.
Again, it should be pointed out that this is just Senegal’s third World Cup appearance, after 2002 and 2018. They reached the quarter-finals in their maiden outing and narrowly missed making it out of Group H in Russia 2018 with Japan progressing based on fair play.
Senegal’s performance in Qatar is better than four years ago as they finished with six points compared to four points in Russia. They also matched the five goals scored in the group stage in South Korea/Japan two decades ago while they conceded four goals in Qatar just like they did in their previous two World Cup outings.
Also in 2022, Senegal are African champions for the first time in their history. Despite fielding the continent’s finest squad, it is still a growing phase for them.
A good number of players such as Pape Gueye, Bamba Dieng, Ismaila Sarr, Pape Matar Sarr and Krépin Diatta are under 25 years of age and that’s a sign of a very bright future.
It is, therefore, safe to say Senegal did not underwhelm at the 2022 World Cup because making it to the Round of 16 is still the minimum for any African team. When there’s a better quality of play and coaching among other factors earlier discussed, the continent can begin to dream big.
