Senegal National Team: Lions of Teranga Football Squad, Fixtures and Records

The Senegal national team is the men's football side of Senegal, nicknamed the Lions of Teranga and run by the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF), which was founded in 1960. They won the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time at the 2021 edition, played in early 2022, and they reached the World Cup quarter finals on their debut in 2002. South African readers searching for the Senegal soccer team are in the right place, because it is the same side and the same squad. The live squad, fixtures and results modules sit above, and the sections below explain how to read them, what Senegal have won, and why the Teranga Lions are argued about from Lagos to Kampala.

Senegal reached the AFCON finals in 2002, 2019, 2021 and 2025, giving readers across Africa a tournament record to explore. The aim here is simple: to put the record and the context side by side, with dates that distinguish historical achievements from the figures in the updating modules.

Who Are the Lions of Teranga, and Where Does the Name Come From?

Senegal are nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, or Lions de la Téranga in French. The federation behind them, the FSF, was founded in 1960, the same year Senegal became independent from France. Their FIFA ranking of 12th in January 2026 provides a dated reference point for their international standing; the updating records module carries their ranking records.

Where do they stand in Africa? In my opinion, Senegal belong in the small group of sides that every other AFCON contender measures itself against. Their appearances in the AFCON finals in 2002, 2019, 2021 and 2025 provide historical context for that view. For readers following Nigeria and other African teams, those tournament campaigns offer useful points of comparison.

Who Is in the Senegal Squad?

The live Senegal squad module lists every player called up, with each player's position and club, and it updates whenever a new group is named, so it is the place to check before any match. Use the records module to identify the most capped player and all time top scorer, and the squad module to check the clubs represented in each selection.

For readers in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, the club column offers a practical way to identify Senegal players they have followed in club competitions. Read it alongside each player's position, then check the match line up to see who starts and where they are deployed.

Who Coaches Senegal, and How Do They Play?

The squad module identifies Senegal’s head coach and carries the updating appointment details. To assess the team's setup, start with the defenders, midfielders and forwards listed in the squad module, then compare them with the confirmed match line up. A player's listed position is a starting point: the formation and role used in a particular match provide the detail needed to understand how Senegal defend and attack.

Senegal Next Match and Fixtures: What Time Is Kick Off Where You Live?

Senegal's next match sits at the top of the fixtures module, with the date, opponent, competition and kick off time shown in WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT. The full list of Senegal fixtures runs below it, from World Cup and AFCON qualifiers to tournament matches and friendlies, and each card turns into a result once the final whistle goes. So, read the competition label before anything else, because a friendly in Europe and a qualifier at Diamniadio mean very different things for the squad and for the group table.

Senegal sit on GMT all year, which makes the conversion simple for the rest of the continent. A 19:00 kick off in Senegal is 19:00 GMT in Dakar and Accra, 20:00 WAT in Lagos, 21:00 SAST in Johannesburg, and 22:00 EAT in Nairobi and Kampala. For that example, the match starts three hours later on the clock in Kenya and Uganda than in Senegal and Ghana. If you are planning a viewing, check the time in your own zone on the fixture card rather than working it out from a European listing.

Where Can You Watch Senegal in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda?

The where to watch module lists the channels and streaming services carrying each Senegal match in your country, because broadcast rights change by tournament and by season. Rights for AFCON, World Cup qualifiers and friendlies are often sold separately, so a channel that showed one Senegal match may not show the next. As such, check the module on the day of the match, rather than relying on where you watched the last one.

Select Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana or Uganda in the viewing module before checking the broadcast listing. Confirm the competition, match date and local kick off time, then check whether the listed service requires a subscription and supports your device. Keep WAT, EAT, SAST and GMT together when sharing fixture details so readers in all five countries can identify their local time.

What Have Senegal Won?

Senegal's biggest honour is the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, played in January and February 2022, which they won by beating Egypt on penalties in the final, with Sadio Mané scoring the winning kick. It was their first continental title, after defeats in the 2002 and 2019 finals, and it ended a wait that began with their first AFCON appearance in 1965. The home based side added the African Nations Championship in 2022, a tournament for players in their own domestic leagues. The updating records module carries Senegal's AFCON appearance total.

The defining match, for me, came earlier, on the opening day of the 2002 World Cup, when Senegal beat the defending champions France 1 to 0 on their debut at the tournament. They went on to reach the quarter finals, their best World Cup finish through 2026, and an African side beating the holders on its first night remains one of the great stories of the competition. That 2002 campaign provides a historical reference for African achievement at the World Cup. Senegal also reached the 2025 AFCON final, a match whose official result was changed later, as set out below.

What Happened After the 2025 AFCON Final?

On 17 March 2026, CAF overturned the 2025 AFCON final result, ruled Senegal’s walk off a forfeit, and awarded the trophy to Morocco.

The updating honours module carries the official tournament record. Read it alongside the dated decision when comparing Senegal's AFCON campaigns.

Who Holds the Senegal Records?

The updating records module identifies Senegal's most capped player and all time top scorer, with their appearance and goal totals. Use those figures when comparing Senegal's players with record holders from Ghana, Nigeria and other African teams. Check the date attached to each total so that the comparison uses the same reporting point.

How Did Senegal Do at the 2026 World Cup?

Senegal were drawn in Group I at the 2026 World Cup, beat Iraq 5 to 0, and reached the round of 32, where they led Belgium 2 to 0 before losing 3 to 2. Senegal made their World Cup debut in 2002 and exited the 2018 tournament in the group stage, so the 2026 campaign added another knockout appearance to their history. The Iraq result showed the attack's contribution in that tournament, while the Belgium result provides a dated example for examining how a lead can change during a knockout match.

Why Do Senegal Matter in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda?

For Nigeria and Ghana, Senegal are West African rivals first and a benchmark second. Super Eagles vs Senegal is the kind of AFCON meeting that decides a whole tournament's mood in Lagos, and Black Stars vs Senegal carries extra weight because the two sides often share qualifying routes for both the World Cup and AFCON. When Nigerian players in the Super Eagles face Senegal, they are often lining up against club teammates or Premier League opponents. That personal edge is what I always look for first, because it is what Nigerian fans end up talking about after the match.

South African fans use Senegal as a measuring stick, and a Bafana Bafana vs Senegal result tells them quickly where their side sits among the continent's best. In Kenya and Uganda, the Harambee Stars and the Uganda Cranes have their own AFCON ambitions, and Senegal show what a settled squad with players across Europe can achieve over several tournaments. In my opinion, that is the model every growing football nation on the continent would like to follow. If you want to see how Senegal compare with the other sides, the full list of national teams is the place to start.

Is It the Senegal National Team or the Senegalese National Team?

Both are correct, and they mean the same side. 'Senegal' is the country's name used as a label, as in the Senegal national team or the Senegal squad, while 'Senegalese' is the adjective, as in the Senegalese national team or a Senegalese striker. In French the side is the Lions de la Téranga, which is why 'Teranga Lions' and 'Lions of Teranga' both appear in English. If you were looking for the country itself rather than its football team, travel and government guides cover that, and everything here is about the Lions of Teranga on the pitch.