First Touch ’26 - Senegal

Step into Senegal and you immediately feel teranga: the Wolof concept of warmth, welcome, and generosity and nowhere is that spirit more alive than with the Lions of Teranga. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass traces Senegal’s journey from a quiet post-independence footballing nation to global darlings after their legendary upset of France in 2002, and on through the heartbreak of the 2018 fair play tiebreaker and their 2021 AFCON triumph. We unpack Sadio Mané’s rise from humble beginnings to Global icon, the legacy of beloved coach Aliou Cissé, the political drama around his departure, and the new era under Pape Thiaw. They are tactics, history, and pure emotion—an inside look at a golden generation trying to turn continental dominance into their deepest World Cup run.