In this year’s World Cup, five countries will be representing Africa. And the team at the top of that list is Senegal in its second consecutive appearance. With the best player in Africa in Sadio Mané, does Senegal have a chance to take the crown?
Till now, no team in Africa has ever taken the crown since the World Cup’s inception in 1930. But it’s been a long time since a team has claimed to have one of the best players that Africa has ever seen.
Thirty-year-old Mané led Senegal to win the Africa Cup in 2021. But he was breaking records way before that.
In 2015, Mané was the first player to ever to score three goals in less than three minutes against Aston Villa. He still holds the record for the quickest hat-trick (scoring three goals) in Premier League history.
He led Liverpool to back-to-back appearances at the UEFA Championship Finals in 2018 and 2019. Liverpool lost in 2018 against Real Madrid but defeated Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. In the same year, Mané tied Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mohamed Salah in the most goals scored in the Premier League.
And Mané didn’t quite stop there. In the 2021 Africa Cup (which was actually delayed and played in Jan/Feb of 2022), Mané led the Senagalese national team all the way to the championship game against Egypt and had to face Africa’s other prolific star in Mohamed Salah.
After defeating Equatorial Guinea 3-1 in the quarter finals and Burkina Faso 3-1 in the semi finals, Senegal squared off with Egypt, a country that has tasted victory in the Africa Cup seven times in its history, while Senegal never won it. But this African Cup was a little different. At its main event, it was Mané vs Mo. And Mané had the last say so.
By the end of regulation it was 0-0. In overtime, Mané scored his penalty kick, and Senegal outscored Egypt 4-2. Mané was named player of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a total of three goals and two assists. And this has surely given him and Senegal the momentum it needs as it prepares for Qatar.
“I won the Champions League and some [other] trophies but this is the special one for me,” Mané said, after defeating Egypt. “This is more important for me.”
To top it off, Senegal faced Egypt in the last World Cup qualification match in late March. And once again, the game ended it a tie (1-1 this time), and Sengal defeated Egypt in the penalty kicks 3-1.
And as they carry this momentum into Qatar, it isn’t just Senegal who is thinking highly of itself. “Senegal is, for me, one of the favorites of the World Cup,” said Frank Leboeuf, who played for France in 1998 when it defeated Brazil in the World Cup. “I really think they can win the World Cup.”
Leboeuf’s sentiments are echoed by Aliou Cissé, manager of the Senegal national team. “When you win the AFCON, you have to know how to play the matches that follow,” Cissé said. “We will be even better in Qatar. In 2018 [at the World Cup], we were eliminated at the group stage — today we have grown.”
While Senegal may be the best team in Africa and have its best shot at taking the crown this year than in previous World Cups, there’s still a long list of teams ahead of Senegal in the tournament. In 2021, FIFA ranked Senegal the 20th best team in the world. In 2022, it bumped up two spots to the 18th best.
In addition to Senegal, other African countries competing in the World Cup are Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, and Ghana. This will be Ghana’s first appearance in the World Cup.
As for Mané, is this year the last shot at the crown? Mané’s dribbling and speed are quite impressive. But at thirty years old, it may be the last World Cup in his prime, as he may not be able to play at his peak at thirty-four in the 2026 World Cup here in the U.S.
Although Senegal did make it to the quarter finals in 2002, the farthest it ever went in the World Cup, this year looks to be Senegal’s most auspicious year on paper. And it will be Mané who will shoulder most of the burden of turning a good team on paper to W’s on the field.
