Should they succeed, it would mark only Senegal’s fourth appearance at a FIFA World Cup, but their third in succession. Diouf had not yet been born when the likes of the late former Hammer Papa Bouba Diop and Henri Camara captured the imagination of the African continent in Senegal’s famous 2002 campaign, when they defeated holders France on their way to the quarter-finals.
“A lot of people remember one of our most famous appearances at the World Cup in 2002,” he reminisced. “We had so many good players, like Henri Camara, Papa Bouba Diop and Salif Diao, who was the president at Galaxy Football Academy [where Diouf began his footballing career].
“I don’t remember too much about our World Cups, but I remember winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, and it was crazy. I was crying a lot, and I remember I didn’t eat dinner because I couldn’t stop crying!”
After the October international break, Senegal will have their sights firmly set on the Africa Cup of Nations, a competition which they will be competing in as favourites given their recent record.
Since 2017, the Lions of Teranga have won it once, in 2022, and have only been eliminated by the eventual champions in the other three editions (Cameroon in the 2017 quarter-final on penalties, Algeria in the 2019 final, and Ivory Coast in the 2024 quarter-final, also on penalties).
