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Senegal have taken their most experienced hands to the 2022 Qatar World Cup including Sadio Mane who is currently sidelined by injury.
The biggest story to come out of Senegal’s final squad list for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is the inclusion of Sadio Mane, despite ongoing injury concerns.
The Bayern Munich winger had been in impressive form since joining Bayern, scoring 11 goals and assisting four more in 23 appearances.
He was widely expected to carry Senegal’s hopes at the World Cup, as he did at the 2022 African Cup of Nations, which Senegal won, but his participation became a doubt when he succumbed to injury against Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga with less than two weeks until the deadline for squad announcements.
Coach Aliou Cissé has chosen to risk his star player despite him missing the last Bundesliga fixture before the World Cup through injury because even if he ends up not playing, they’ll stand to gain a lot from his wealth of experience.
Senegal’s experienced core.
Senegal will be counting on Mane’s experience at the World Cup, but they also have a number of experienced players on their roster.
In addition to Mane, who has 92 caps, they have Kalidou Koulibaly, who has amassed 63 caps, Cheikhou Kouyaté, who has 82, and Idrissa Gueye, who could become the most capped Senegalese player in history depending on how well The Lions of Teranga do.
Gueye has represented Senegal on 96 occasions, including at four AFCON tournaments and the 2018 World Cup, and could be in line to beat Henri Camara’s record of 99 appearances during the Qatar World Cup.
To further show the experience in the team, Senegal have named 10 players who are 30 years of age or older, with only five players younger than 25 in the squad.
The youngest player in the squad is Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr, who is going to his second international tournament with the national team while being only 20 years old.
Familiar names and absentees in Senegal's squad
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Other familiar names in the side include Chelsea’s Édouard Mendy, Nottingham Forest’s Cheikhou Kouyaté, Tottenham’s Pape Matar Sarr, Watford’s Ismaïla Sarr, Marseille's Pape Gueye, and Leicester City’s Nampalys Mendy.
Mendy’s Leicester teammate, Boubakary Soumare, is the most notable absentee in the Senegalese squad, but they will also be without Nottingham Forest’s Moussa Niakhaté, Noah Fadiga, the son of legendary playmaker Khalilou Fadiga, and Krépin Diatta, who has been a regular for Monaco.
Senegal open their World Cup account against the Netherlands before taking on the hosts Qatar and playing Ecuador in their final group, and if all goes well, Mane should be able to play at least one of those games.
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