Last hurrah: Senegal’s Sadio Mané
Sadio Mané will play for Senegal at the World Cup for a second time at the age of 34. In the second of a series on players at their final World Cup, RFI looks at a striker who holds his country’s goal-scoring record.
Issued on:
3 min Reading time
Only one of Mané’s 53 goals for Senegal has come at a World Cup. He scored the solitary strike in his haul in a group stage game against Japan in Ekaterinburg during the 2018 tournament in Russia.
Mané, then playing for Liverpool, featured in all three pool games. But though Aliou Cissé’s squad finished with the same record as Japan, they were eliminated on Fifa’s fair play rule, having picked up more yellow cards than the Japanese during the group stages.
“These are things we unfortunately couldn’t control,” said Senegal defender Lamine Gassama. “We did our best for the team. As a result, we sometimes made mistakes and received cards.
“Unfortunately, that’s also part of the game. It’s cruel to miss out on the last 16 because of more yellow cards.”
Crueller was to come for Mané four years later. Now with the German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, he was forced to sit out the 2022 World Cup by a knee injury.
Without him, Senegal reached the last 16, where England outclassed them 3-0.
Talisman in Senegal squad
In his last World Cup, Mané, who moved to the Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in 2023, goes into the football fest as one of his team’s leaders, along with defender Kalidou Koulibaly, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Mané cemented his status during the Africa Cup of Nations final in January against Morocco.
Several of his Senegal teammates, prompted by coach Pape Thiaw, walked off the pitch in protest over the decision of referee Jean-Jacques Ndala to award a penalty to Morocco after consulting the video assistant referees. Just a few minutes earlier, Ndala had refused to review footage when he ruled out a Senegal goal.
Images beamed around the planet showed Mané urging Senegal’s players to return to the pitch no matter the perceived injustice.
Mané crowned Africa’s top footballer of 2019
Once play resumed after a 15-minute delay, Brahim Diaz missed the penalty with the last kick of the regulation 90 minutes and Senegal eventually won the game 1-0 after extra time.
After the triumph, Mané told broadcaster beIN Sports that he had just played in his last game at the Africa Cup of Nations.
“I will try to play in the 2026 World Cup,” he said. “And then I will retire from international football.”
The appeals committee of the Confederation of African Football, which organises the Cup of Nations, later accepted Morocco’s appeal against the Senegal walk-off and awarded the final to Morocco.
Senegal’s football federation has lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against that ruling.
African giant
As lawyers decide whether Morocco or Senegal won the 2025 Cup of Nations title, Senegal and Morocco will be among 10 African sides at the 2026 World Cup, which has been expanded to 48 teams. Mané will be the doyen of the continent’s strikers.
“Although Sadio is no longer as nimble as he was at 25, he still helps us a lot,” former Senegal international El Hadji Diouf told Fifa’s website.
“With him on the pitch, our chances of winning a match rise to 60 percent, because the opponents are worried when he’s there.”
Record breaker Oshoala and Senegal’s Mané claim Caf player of the year awards
Mané will have his first chance to extend his goal-scoring record on 16 June when Senegal face France at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
A week later, Senegal take on Norway at the same venue. They finish their Group I campaign against Iraq on 26 June in Toronto.
“Senegal has three opponents. Why focus on France?” said Thiaw after unveiling a provisional 28-man squad.
“Norway and Iraq are also in the mix. For sure, we share a historical connection with France. But for me, this isn’t a special match.”
A 54th international goal from Mané to clinch the tie might just change his mind.
Credit: Source link