Managing the post-Aliou Cissé by formalizing, via supervision, the arrival of Pape Thiaw on the Lions bench and focusing on the continuation of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in two months, these are “the priorities of the moment » on the side of the Senegalese Football Federation. We understand that the governing body, which confirmed the information, is taking its time to follow up on the English proposal to play the Lions in a friendly next June.
It was our colleagues at Afrik-foot who provided the information. Looking for a friendly match on June 10, England offered Senegal to come and face them at home.
According to the source, the English Federation has in fact proposed to its Senegalese counterpart that the Lions come and face the Three Lions at the City Ground, located in the town of West Bridgford in the Midlands, an enclosure with a capacity of 30 600 places where Nottingham Forest usually plays.
For the record, England only played on one occasion in this stadium, on March 15, 1909 in a friendly against Wales (2-0). The English would thus end their season, three days after a trip to Andorra as part of the third day of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. And on the London side, we are now awaiting the response from the Senegalese Federation.
Precisely, to find out more, Le Quotidien contacted a federal source. The latter confirmed the information concerning the planned friendly match against England. “Indeed, we received the request. We are studying the proposal,” our interlocutor replied, without further details.
It is true that on the federal side, everyone is focusing on the post-Aliou Cissé era. A turn not to be missed, given the impressive record left by “El Tactico”, after almost 10 years of good and loyal service, with at the end a first Can offered to Senegalese football.
-As a result, the focus is mainly on the formalization of Pape Thiaw on the Lions bench. After the unanimous choice of the Executive Committee, it is up to the Ministry of Sports to validate the arrival of the last winner of the Chan.
Finished with this ongoing process, it will be up to Aliou Cissé’s successor to fine-tune his new staff and return to work, with the continuation of his European tour started before the double confrontation against Malawi. And this in perspective of the important meeting next March, for the continuation of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, with a perilous trip to the current leader of the group, Sudan.
Note that in the event that Senegal accepts the conditions proposed by the English Federation, this would be the second confrontation between the two selections, after that of December 4, 2022, during the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar. That day, in Al Khor, England largely won (3-0). In any case, such a meeting would necessarily have a particular flavor for many Senegalese internationals, some of whom play or have played in the Premier League.
Finally, let us point out that England is not the only European selection to wish to welcome the 2021 African champions. According to our colleagues, Eire (60th in the Fifa ranking) also offered Senegal to visit them in Dublin, on June 6 or 7, 2025. The Irish and the Senegalese have never faced each other until now.
