When Cheikh Sabaly slotted home the visitors’ third goal at the City Ground on Tuesday, he etched a historic win in the records of the Senegal national football team.
Pape Thiaw’s team had completed a 3-1 victory over England – the first win for an African country over the Three Lions in 22 attempts.
Ismaila Sarr and Habib Diarra earlier turned the tide in the favour of the visitors, after Harry Kane gave Thomas Tuchel’s side an early lead in the friendly.
“Fantastic night. We knew we could do something in this game,” Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It was a tough game, but we showed our personality and showed we can play at this level.”
Koulibaly related the win to Senegal’s Africa Cup of Nations victory in 2022.
“It is fantastic. We are not used to making history and we made it when we won Afcon, and we made it tonight,” he said.
“We want to continue writing the story of Senegal. We wanted to show we have a good nation.”
Senegal have not lost a game since January 2024, when as defending champions they were beaten on penalties by Ivory Coast at the Afcon last-16 stage.
Thiaw took charge in December and now has two wins and two draws.
Four of the Senegal XI who started at the City Ground play in the Premier League, with Edouard Mendy and Koulibaly having turned out for Chelsea in the past as well.
In England’s previous 21 matches against African nations, the Three Lions had won 15 times and drawn six, Opta said.
They came close to losing to Tunisia in 1990, before Steve Bull rescued a 1-1 draw with an 89th-minute equaliser against Tunisia in a friendly before the World Cup.
England then had to overcome Cameroon in extra time at Italia 90, edging them out 3-2 in the quarter-finals.
The last time England were beaten by a country from another continent for the first time had been in 2003, when they were defeated 3-1 at Upton Park by Australia.
