Jersey sales are climbing fast before Tuesday's match between the Lions de la Teranga and the Bleus, and the number 10 shirt is the one supporters want most. Shops are seeing a rush not only for maillots, but also for accessories that let fans turn the match into a full display of colors.
The spike matters because the shirts are not cheap. Prices run from 10 000 to 25 000 FCFA, and some shops charge 3 000 FCFA for flocage, yet buyers are still ordering in volume. Mamadou Sarr is one of the names used in the custom orders, alongside Sadio Mané and Ibrahima Mbaye, which shows that fans are looking for personal choices as much as a standard jersey.
What is driving the rush is the match itself. The Senegal-France meeting has turned football excitement into commercial activity, and sellers say orders are arriving from different regions of Senegal and from the diaspora. That gives the market a wider reach than a normal local sales run and helps explain why the same shirt can draw attention in more than one place at once.
There is a catch, though. Demand is rising even as purchasing power is under strain and the economic backdrop remains difficult. Supporters are still buying jerseys, flags, bracelets, gadgets and other national-colour items, but that does not mean every interested fan can spend freely. The appetite is there; the budget is the limit.
Merchants expect sales to peak on Tuesday, when the Lions de la Teranga face the Bleus, and the real test will be how far that rush goes once the match begins. For sellers, the question is no longer whether demand exists. It is how much of it will turn into actual sales before the final whistle.
