Today's Talking Points
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1Senegal are the reigning Africa Cup of Nations champions and have more Premier League players per capita than almost any other nation outside Europe. If someone tells you they don't rate Senegal, ask them which Premier League players they think aren't very good.
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2Sadio Mané is back and healthy after injuries disrupted the last couple of years. A fit Mané makes Senegal a genuinely different team — one of the most dangerous forwards in the world when everything's working.
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3They're in Group I with France, Iraq and Norway. France are the overwhelming favourites to top the group. Senegal beating France would be a monumental result — and is not quite as unlikely as it might sound, which is the interesting part.
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4Senegal reached the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup before losing to England. That's a solid consistent performance at back-to-back tournaments. They're not a one-off or a surprise story anymore.
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5Manager Aliou Cissé has been in charge since 2015, played in the 2002 World Cup side that reached the quarters, and has built a culture that takes winning seriously. He's one of the more experienced international managers in Africa.
🍺 Top Thing To Say Down The Pub
Senegal have more Premier League players in their squad than most European nations. With a fit Sadio Mané, they could genuinely cause problems for anyone.
🚫 Avoid Saying
"African teams always underperform" — Senegal reached the quarters in 2002 and 2022, Morocco reached the semis in 2022. The narrative is simply wrong at this point.