African team can win World Cup, says Senegal’s Cisse

Fans of Senegal national team watch the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal on a giant screen at a fan zone in Dakar on November 25, 2022. (Photo by SEYLLOU / AFP)

Senegal manager Aliou Cisse said he believed an African team could win the World Cup after beating Qatar 3-1 on Friday to roar back into Group A contention.

No African side has ever gone beyond the quarter-finals at a World Cup and only Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana have reached that stage.

Cisse believes a string of surprise results so far in Qatar prove that “things have changed” in world football and he sees no reason why this cannot be Africa’s year.

“Yes, an African country can win the World Cup, and I hope that it will be Senegal,” said the manager, who was part of the Senegal side that upset France on the way to a quarter-final appearance in Japan and South Korea 20 years ago.

Fans of Senegal national team celebrate their victory at the end of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group A football match between Qatar and Senegal at a fan zone in Dakar on November 25, 2022. (Photo by SEYLLOU / AFP)

“All the teams who are competing at this World Cup are teams who are worthy of being here.

“It’s not like 30 or 35 years ago where the big fish were completely eating the smaller teams alive.”

Senegal lost their opening game against the Netherlands but put themselves right back into contention with a convincing win over host nation Qatar.

– Remarkable rise – Goals either side of half-time from Boulaye Dia and Famara Diedhiou put the African champions in the driving seat before Mohammed Muntari brought Qatar back into the match.

Substitute Bamba Dieng calmed Senegalese nerves with a third goal six minutes later, and Cisse was happy with his strikers in