One of the biggest teams in Africa has its manager adamant that his squad can win the FIFA World Cup.
In a somewhat unexpected statement, Senegal’s coach Aliou Cisse stated that he believes his squad has a good chance of winning the biggest team award in football soon.
As a manager, he has already won the Africa Cup of Nations, which the Lions of Teranga captured for the first time in their history in 2022. He thinks they can win the championship again, though ultimately he would rather have the AFCON trophy than make it to the World Cup semifinals.
In an interview with Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport, the 48-year-old was asked to pick between winning the AFCON and making it to the next World Cup semi-final. “I’d prefer to win another [AFCON in Morocco in 2025],” he replied.
“An AFCON is still special, even if you win a World Cup.
“I am confident that Senegal will one day win the World Cup. That much is evident.
“The emerging generation has the capacity to accomplish great things.
“That starts with qualifying for the upcoming AFCON in 2025 and then having a great tournament to bring back that trophy that eluded us in the Ivory Coast.”
Regretfully, Cisse’s experience with Senegal’s involvement in the most recent iterations of these competitions has not been favorable. The Lions of Teranga were viewed as dark horses going into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they were regarded as the top-seeded African team. However, they were eliminated by England in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, they were eliminated by hosts and eventual winners Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals of the 2023 AFCON.
Senegal is ranked second in Africa and 17th worldwide in the most recent FIFA World rankings, behind only Morocco.
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