Housed in group L with Benin, Mozambique and Rwanda, three teams that missed TotalEnergies 2021 AFCON finals, it is clear that Senegal was not drawn in the toughest group.
If it is always important for one to respect his opponents especially on the continent, the reigning African champion and future World Cup participant, has inherited a more than playable group.
In addition to having missed the great celebration of African football where Senegal won their first Africa Cup of Nations title, the Senegalese team will go with a favorable bias against opponents they have beaten in the not so distant past. .
In Egypt, Idrissa Gana Gueye scored the goal (1-0) that sealed the elimination of the Squirrels in the quarter-finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Mozambique were beaten 2-0 in Dakar in the 2008 AFCON qualifiers, while Rwanda was defeated (2-0) at home by Senegal in a friendly in May 2016.
So everything seems to be in place for the Lions qualify for the Cote d’Ivoire 2023 finals, if we put aside the uncertainty of the sport.
Amara Traoré, former coach and head of High Performance at the Senegalese Football Federation:
“In this group, Senegal must uphold their standing as African champions and future world cup participants. This requires respect for opponents at first and start the playoffs by putting yourself in the mantle of the African champion. Senegal will be the team to beat but they remain on a good dynamic with the continental title and the qualification for the World Cup. And Senegal have the means to be able, in the worst case, to be part of the two qualified teams in this group. Football is the realm of uncertainty but Lions have learned that games on the continent are not won on paper. They have shown that they know how to turn around and go for the wins. And impose the new hierarchy in African football.”
Source: CAF