Friendly: Senegal hand England first-ever loss to African team

Photo: Senegalese Football Federation

English supporters were left stunned and jeering their national team after Senegal delivered a brilliant performance to shock the England national team by a 3-1 score in Nottingham on Tuesday evening. Senegal now have the longest undefeated streak in world football, which stands at 22 games.

It was a rough start for the visiting Senegalese, who conceded inside ten minutes when Harry Kane opened the scoring for England. However, in a surprise development, the Lions of Teranga fought back with ferocity.

Ismaïla Sarr, scorer of a late equaliser in Senegal's 1-1 draw in Ireland earlier in the June FIFA window, levelled the match with a simple finish after Nicolas Jackson got to the end line and crossed for the in-form Crystal Palace winger.

After an even first half that ended level, Senegal outplayed the hosts in the second half and secured a well-deserved victory. In the 62nd minute, Kalidou Koulibaly played an excellent pass over the top of the English defence to send Habib Diarra in on goal, and the Strasbourg starlet made no mistake with a sublime finish under Three Lions goalkeeper Dean Henderson.

England appeared to equalise but VAR intervened after Jude Bellingham's strike beat Édouard Mendy in the Senegalese goal. More poor play from the English team resulted in one more goal for Senegal in stoppage time when Curtis Jones was caught in possession, resulting in a deadly counter-attack that ended with Cheikh Sabaly's first goal for the Lions of Teranga.

Senegal ends their trip to the British Isles with a dream result, a boost for coach Pape Thiaw's team as they look forward to resuming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying in early September.