Dakar, March 1 (APS) – The Senegal U20 team faces in the quarter-finals, Thursday at 2 p.m. GMT, that of Benin for a place in the next edition of the World Cup in the category, scheduled for Indonesia from 20 May to June 11, 2023.
To qualify for this World Cup, the Cubs will have to overcome the fully motivated Cheetahs, despite a qualification obtained on the wire. Benin had created the feat in 2005 during its first participation in a first final phase of the CAN, finishing in third place. A performance that he could not repeat in 2013, during his second participation in the competition. The Cheetahs were then eliminated in the first round.
Ten years later, they are back on the African scene and even manage to reach the quarter-finals. Housed in Pool C, Mattias Deguenon’s players finished best third with two points.
They drew with Zambia (1-1) and Tunisia (0-0), before losing to Gambia (0-1). They end these group stages with a goal scored, two goals conceded and a defender, Abdoul Rachid, selected in the standard group stage team.
The Cheetahs will face Cubs who flew through the first round. The teammates of striker Papa Amadou Diallo (two goals) finished first in the pool of the host country, Egypt, with nine points. They scored eight goals and kept a clean sheet.
Senegal also won the titles of best goalkeeper with Landing Badji and best player with Pape Demba Diop. The player from Zulte Waregem (Super League Pro, Belgium) scored four goals, including a hat-trick against Egypt.
Senegal, host country and finalist of the 19th edition in 2015, has never won the tournament. The Cubs are participating in their sixth CAN finals after 1993, 1995, 2015, 2017 and 2019. They have lost the finals in their last three appearances.