With additional reports
Pape Thiaw’s team had completed a 3-1 victory over England – the first win for an African country over the Three Lions in 22 attempts, the BBC has reported.
Both Ismaila Sarr and Habib Diarra earlier turned things around in the favour of the visitors, after Harry Kane gave Thomas Tuchel’s side an early lead in the friendly.
“Fantastic night. We knew we could do something in this game,” Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It was a tough game, but we showed our personality and showed we can play at this level, ” says Koulibaly who compared the victory to Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations victory in 2022.
“It is fantastic. We are not used to making history and we made it when we won Afcon, and we made it tonight,” he said, adding that, “We want to continue writing the story of Senegal. We wanted to show we have a good nation.”
Interestingly, Senegal had not lost a game since January 2024, when as defending champions they were beaten on penalties by Ivory Coast at the Afcon last-16 stage.
Thiaw took charge in December and now has two wins and two draws.
The BBC report says again that four of the Senegal XI who started at the City Ground play in the Premier League, with Edouard Mendy and Koulibaly having turned out for Chelsea in the past as well.
In England’s previous 21 matches against African nations, the Three Lions had won 15 times and drawn six, Opta said.
They came close to losing to Tunisia in 1990, before Steve Bull rescued a 1-1 draw with an 89th-minute equaliser against Tunisia in a friendly before the World Cup.
England then had to overcome Cameroon in extra time at Italia 90, edging them out 3-2 in the quarter-finals.
The last time England were beaten by a country from another continent for the first time had been in 2003, when they were defeated 3-1 at Upton Park by Australia.
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