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The Lions Who Beat The World Champions · Senegal 2002

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THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY

2002

In their first-ever World Cup game, Senegal beat France, the defending world champions and the country that once ruled them. Papa Bouba Diop scored the goal. It was no fluke: Senegal reached the quarter-finals.

THE WAIT

Two decades followed without matching that run. In 2021 Sadio Mané, the boy from Bambali and a Champions League winner, led Senegal to their first Africa Cup of Nations.

NOW

The Lions of Teranga are at a third straight World Cup, possibly the last for a golden generation.

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