El Hadji Diouf has put a number on Senegal's World Cup target, saying the team should be aiming for the semi-finals as they prepare to open their campaign on June 17. The former Liverpool forward said AFCON was only the warm-up, and that Senegal now expect to carry the confidence of a squad built around Sadio Mané, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly.
That confidence comes from a run that has already pushed the team beyond normal expectation. Senegal beat England 3-1 at Wembley in June and followed that with a 2-0 away win over Brazil, results that gave Diouf reason to say the country is no longer just a good side but an institution of football. He said the group has the sort of players who represent more than one nation, and that Senegal are mentally ready for any competition.
Mané remains central to that image. In the Africa Cup of Nations final in January, Senegal were ordered off the pitch after Jean-Jacques Ndala pointed to the spot in stoppage time following a VAR check on Malick Diouf's challenge on Brahim Diaz. The game was still goalless. After a 16-minute delay, Mané brought Senegal back out to continue, Mendy saved Diaz's penalty and Pape Gueye scored in extra-time to seal the title.
But the triumph has not stayed clean. Senegal were stripped of the AFCON title in March by the Confederation of African Football appeal board, then paraded the trophy before a friendly against Peru later that month. The case is now set to be heard before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, leaving the champions with a trophy they celebrated in public and a title they do not officially hold.
That dispute sits in the background as Senegal head into Group I with France, Norway and Iraq, and it makes their opening match against France sharper than a normal group game. Senegal's best World Cup finish remains the quarter-final in 2002, when they also beat France 1-0 in their first appearance at the tournament. Diouf has left no doubt about the standard he wants now: not progression, not survival, but a run to the semi-final.
