Senegal Aim Higher Than Ever as El Hadji Diouf Sets Semi-Final Target

El Hadji Diouf, who played in Senegal's famous run to the quarter-finals at the 2002 World Cup, has set his sights higher for the current squad, telling Sky Sports that the semi-finals are a genuine target for this generation. Diouf pointed to the 2002 side's shock 1-0 victory over a France team containing Zinedine Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu as proof that Senegal can topple the very best.

The parallels to 2026 are hard to ignore. Sky Sports reports that Senegal open their campaign against France again, the same opponents they stunned over two decades ago. However, this time France arrive as runners-up from the Qatar World Cup, rather than reigning champions.

Diouf spoke of Senegal's confidence and seriousness as a footballing nation, referencing strong recent friendly results including a 3-1 win over England at Wembley and a 2-0 victory away to Brazil. Those results were not flukes, he argued, and the current squad has both the talent and the belief to go further than any Senegal team before them.