Senegal national under-20 football team

Senegal U-20
Nickname(s)Les Lions de la Teranga
(Young Lions of Teranga)
AssociationSenegalese Football Federation
ConfederationCAF (Africa)
Sub-confederationWAFU (West Africa)
Head coachMalick Daf
CaptainSamba Diallo
Most capsLibasse Guèye (26)
Top scorerSamba Diallo (13)
Home stadiumStade Léopold Sédar Senghor
FIFA codeSEN
First colours
Second colours
First international
  0–2 Gambia 
(Senegambia?; 26 July 1982)
Biggest win
  5–0 Bahrain 
(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 27 February 2020)
Biggest defeat
 Brazil 5–0  
(Christchurch, New Zealand; 17 June 2015)
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Appearances4 (first in 2015)
Best resultFourth place (2015)
Africa U-20 Cup of Nations
Appearances6 (first in 1993)
Best resultChampions (2023)
Arab Cup U-20
Appearances2 (first in 2020)
Best resultChampions (2020)

The Senegal national U-20 football team (French: Équipe du Sénégal de football U-20), nicknamed Les Lions de la Teranga (young Lions of Teranga) is the feeder team for the Senegal national football team and is controlled by the Senegalese Football Federation. They are the current champions of the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations and their senior team are the current champions of the AFCON and the CHAN. The first time Senegal qualified for a World Cup was in 2015, where they managed to qualify for the semi-finals up until they lost against Brazil 5–0, their biggest defeat. They then went on to loss the third place match against fellow WAFU member Mali. Senegal ended up finishing in fourth place, their best performance in the tournament.

Senegal's first appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations was in 1993, when they drew 0–0 against Egypt. They then later lost to Ethiopia and Morocco respectively.

Achievements

  • Senegal U-20's have qualified for 4 FIFA U-20 World Cup finals.
  • In 2007 & 2009 they got to the 1st Qualifying round, but got knocked out by Ghana (2007) & Nigeria (2009).
  • In 2011 they got to the 2nd round, but got knocked out by Egypt.
  • In the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup they reached the semi-finals of the finals tournament, losing 5–0 to Brazil and then losing 3–1 in the third-place match against Mali.
  • In the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Amadou Sagna made the fastest goal in U-20 championships, 9.6 seconds after the beginning of the match against Tahiti.

2023 U-20 World Cup

Being the current champion of Africa under-20, Senegal's favoritism to pass the stage was very big after an impressive display in the U-20 AFCON in Egypt, winning all games without conceding a goal as Senegal continued to conquer Africa. However, the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup became a total disaster for the Senegalese, as they started with a shock 0–1 defeat to Japan. Senegal also failed to hold the line properly against Israel in a humiliating 1–1 draw, where a Senegalese player even scored an own goal. Senegal improved against Colombia in the final match, and led 1–0 until the fifth minutes of added time in the second half when a late goal from the Colombian side ensured Senegal to finish bottom and suffer a group stage exit. This was the first-time ever in Senegalese football history, a national team of the country finished bottom of the table, a humiliating exit for the African champions. To make thing worse, Nigeria, Gambia and Tunisia, all three lost to Senegal in the earlier U-20 AFCON, successfully reached the knockout stage, ensuring Senegal's humiliation in the tournament.

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 World Cup record

FIFA U-20 World Cup record
Year Round GP W D1 L GS GA
1977 Did not qualify
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015 Fourth place 7 2 2 3 6 14
2017 Round of 16 4 1 1 2 2 2
2019 Quarter-finals 5 3 2 0 10 4
2021 Cancelled [note 1]
2023 Group stage 3 0 2 1 2 3
2025 Did not qualify
Total 4/24 19 6 7 6 20 23

1Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations

Africa U-20 Cup of Nations record
Year Result GP W D L GS GA
1979 Did not qualify
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993 Group Stage 3 0 1 2 1 5
1995 Group Stage 3 0 2 1 2 3
1997 Did not qualify
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
2011
2013
2015 Runners-up 5 2 1 2 9 10
2017 Runners-up 5 3 1 1 8 6
2019 Runners-up 5 4 1 0 11 2
2021 Did not qualify
2023 Champions 6 6 0 0 14 0
Total 6/23 27 15 6 6 45 26

Arab Cup U-20

Arab Cup U-20 record [note 2]
Host nation(s)
and year
Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad
2020 Champions 1st of 16 6 4 2 0 13 2 Squad
2021 Quarter-finals 6th of 16 3 2 1 0 11 3 Squad
Total Best: Champions 2 / 5 9 6 3 0 24 5

Results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 24 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

  Win   Draw   Loss

2021

21 June 2021 2021 Arab Cup U-20 GS   5–1  Lebanon Cairo, Egypt
16:00
  • S. Faye 9'
  • Diao 22'
  • Cissoko 56'
  • Ndoye 60' (pen.)
  • M. Faye 79'
Report
  • Ismail 3'
Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium
Referee: Mohamed Mofeed Nasser (Jordan)
24 June 2021 2021 Arab Cup U-20 GS Comoros  1–5   Cairo, Egypt
16:00
Report
Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium
Referee: Mohamed Maarouf Eid Mansour (Egypt)
27 June 2021 2021 Arab Cup U-20 GS   1–1  Iraq Cairo, Egypt
16:00 Faye 72' Report Abdul Razzaq 28' Stadium: Petro Sport Stadium
Referee: Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)
30 June 2021 2021 Arab Cup U-20 QF   1–1 (a.e.t.)
(2–3 p)
 Saudi Arabia Cairo, Egypt
17:00
Report
Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Amir Loussif (Tunisia)
Penalties

2023

19 February 2023 AFCON U-20 GS   1–0  Nigeria Cairo, Egypt
14:00
Report Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Jalal Jayed (Morocco)
22 February 2023 AFCON U-20 GS Mozambique  0–3   Cairo, Egypt
14:00 Report
Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Ahmed Abdulrazg (Libya)
25 February 2023 AFCON U-20 GS Egypt  0–4   Cairo, Egypt
17:00 Report
Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Mohamed Athoumani (Comoros)
2 March 2023 AFCON U-20 QF   1–0  Benin Cairo, Egypt
14:00
Report Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Jean-Claude Ishimwe (Rwanda)
6 March 2023 AFCON U-20 SF   3–0  Tunisia Ismailia, Egypt
16:00
Report Stadium: Suez Canal Stadium
Referee: Omar Artan (Somalia)
11 March 2023 AFCON U-20 Final   2–0  Gambia Cairo, Egypt
19:00
Report Stadium: Cairo International Stadium
Referee: Mahmoud Ahmed Nagy (Egypt)
21 May FIFA World Cup GS   0–1  Japan La Plata, Argentina
Report Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de La Plata
24 May FIFA World Cup GS   1–1  Israel La Plata, Argentina
Report Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de La Plata
27 May FIFA World Cup GS Colombia  1–1   La Plata, Argentina
Report Stadium: Estadio Ciudad de La Plata

Players

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, to be played between 27 April – 18 May 2025.[1]

Caps and goals correct as of 2 May 2025, after the match against the Central African Republic.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Mamadou Kara Seye 0 0 Étoile Lusitana
16 1GK Mouhamed Sissokho (2005-01-21) 21 January 2005 1 0 Amitié
23 1GK Alioune Sarr Ndao 0 0 Sacré-Cœur

2 2DF Taly Dia (2008-07-10) 10 July 2008 0 0 United Académie
3 2DF Ousmane Konaté (2005-03-15) 15 March 2005 1 0 Douanes
4 2DF Fallou Diouf (2006-12-31) 31 December 2006 1 0 Génération Foot
12 2DF Lassana Traoré (2007-05-06) 6 May 2007 1 0 Diambars
17 2DF Ibrahima Diallo (2007-09-13) 13 September 2007 1 0 Génération Foot
20 2DF Khalifa Babacar Diouf 0 0 Douanes

5 3MF Omar Sarr (2008-01-06) 6 January 2008 0 0 Diambars
6 3MF Pape Daouda Diong (2006-06-15) 15 June 2006 1 0 Strasbourg
8 3MF Cheikh Tidiane Thiam (2005-11-07) 7 November 2005 1 1 Oslo Football Academy
10 3MF Seydi Ababacar Diouck 1 0 Pikine
14 3MF Pierre Dorival (2006-03-15) 15 March 2006 1 0 Lyon
15 3MF Ousseynou Fall Seck 1 0 AJEL de Rufisque

7 4FW Yaya Diémé (2007-10-16) 16 October 2007 1 0 Diambars
9 4FW Ibrahima Dieng (2005-08-31) 31 August 2005 1 0 Pikine
11 4FW Amidou Badji (2006-06-28) 28 June 2006 0 0 Espoirs de Guédiawaye
13 4FW Abdourahmane Dia (2005-11-27) 27 November 2005 1 0 Darou Salam
18 4FW Clayton Diandy (2006-07-29) 29 July 2006 1 0 Aris Thessaloniki
19 4FW Papa Magueye Gaye (2006-05-15) 15 May 2006 1 0 Sion
21 4FW Norbert Gomis 0 0 Dakar
22 4FW Mame Mor Faye (2005-07-12) 12 July 2005 1 0 Esenler Erokspor

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been selected for the Senegal Under-20 squad within the last twelve months and remain eligible for selection.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Club


Notes

  1. ^ due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA were forced to cancel the tournament
  2. ^ Senegal have only been invited twice

References

  1. ^ "Liste des lionceaux U20 retenus par le coach Serigne Saliou Dia pour disputer la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations U20 2025" (in French). Fédération Sénégalaise de Football - Facebook. 18 April 2025. Retrieved 2 May 2025.

Head-to-head record

The following table shows Senegal's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.