While waiting to know whether Senegal will appear at the 2026 World Cup as finalist or winner of the 2025 African Cup of Nations, coach Pape Thiaw revealed this Thursday the identity of the 28 players who will make the trip to North America.
While he suggested that he could retire internationally, Sadio Mané (Al-Nassr, 34 years old) has visibly changed his mind. The top scorer of the Teranga Lions (53) is in the group, as are executives Edouard Mendy (Al-Ahli, 34 years old), Kalidou Koulibaly (Al-Hilal, 34 years old) and Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton, 36 years old).
As usual, Ligue 1 is well represented, with the presence of Yehvann Diouf (Nice, 26 years old), Kreppin Diatta (Monaco, 27 years old), Antoine Mendy (Nice, 21 years old), Moussa Niakhaté (Lyon, 30 years old), Lamine Camara (Monaco, 22 years old) and Ibrahim Mbaye (PSG, 18 years old).
Big new features in the Senegal list
Several strong choices were also made by the 45-year-old coach compared to the list of the last CAN. Boulaye Dia (Lazio Rome, 29 years old), Habib Diallo (Metz, 30 years old) and Cheikh Sabaly (Vancouver, 27 years old) were excluded.
Conversely, Moustapha Mbow (Paris FC, 26 years old) and Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (Bayern Munich, 18 years old) will honor their first selection during this World Cup, while Bamba Dieng (Lorient, 26 years old) is making his comeback.
Senegal will face France (June 16), Norway (June 23) then Iraq (June 26) for Group I.
