Senegal looks to repeat 2002 World Cup upset of France that set off dancing in Dakar's streets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N,J. — France's last World Cup match against Senegal set off dancing in the streets of Dakar.

Les Bleus were the defending champions when the Lions of Teranga's 1-0 upset win in the 2002 opener caused Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade to declare a national holiday.

“Not for revenge do we want to win, but we want to go as far as possible in this competition,” France midfielder N’Golo Kanté said through a translator on Monday, a day before Les Bleus and Senegal meet in Group I.

Senegal was a French colony before 1960.

“We know that a game between France and Senegal is a very symbolic game,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said through a translator.

Six of France's players hadn't been born at the time of the 2002 game, when Papa Bouba Diop scored in the 30th minute while lying on his side. The Lions of Teranga reached the quarterfinals that year before losing to Turkey, while France went winless and failed to advance from its group.

“There’s no revenge in football,” France coach Didier Deschamps said through a translator. “This will be another page to write now and what happened in 2002, well, all the best for Senegal. I mean it was good for them at the time but we’ll make sure that the results be a positive for us this time.”

France is a two-time champion seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final. Les Blues won in 1998 and 2018, then lost the 2022 final to Argentina on penalty kicks.

The French team is ranked third in the world, while Senegal is 16th.

“Our main opponent is ourselves,” Kanté said. “We cannot see ourselves too beautiful or too strong."

Thiaw was picked for Senegal's 2002 roster but played in only one game, the round of 16 win over Sweden. He will pass along lessons learned from the late Bruno Metsu, Senegal’s 2002 coach.

“Of course, there is going to be a Bruno effect when I’m going to be talking to my players tomorrow,” Thiaw said. “I will also add my personal touch and also add what Bruno taught me along the way.”

Visa denial may not decrease Senegal supporters in stadium

Fans in Senegal were denied visas by the U.S. government but Thiaw expects supporters to be inside MetLife Stadium.

“Of course we’d like to have our fans. We know what they can do for us. They push us,” Thiaw said. “But we have a major Senegalese community and we know that the Senegalese is very patriotic and they like their national team. You will see this tomorrow. You won’t even believe it that no Senegalese came over from Senegal.”

Morocco, not Senegal, is African champion — for now

Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, then beat Morocco 1-0 in this year’s final only to have the Atlas Lions awarded a 3-0 forfeit win by African soccer’s governing body because the Lions of Teranga left the field for 15 minutes during stoppage time in protest of a penalty kick awarded to their opponent.

Senegal has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“For me we are champions of Africa, full stop,” Thiaw said.

Didier Deschamps nears World Cup coaching record

Deschamps said in January he will retire this summer after 14 years in the same job. Tuesday's match will be his 20th as a World Cup coach, five shy of Helmut Schön's record with West Germany.

He is one of only three men to win World Cup titles as a player and coach, joining Mário Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer.

Heat not expected to be extreme in New Jersey

Tuesday's game starts at 3 p.m. EDT and sunny weather is forecast but the temperature at kickoff is likely to be about 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius), down significantly from last weekend.

France practiced at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, after arriving in the U.S. last Wednesday.

“We had to train in the heat, under the sun," Kanté said, "and we saw also how tired we could be as a result.”