Have England ever played Senegal? History of Three Lions vs African teams

England can reach the quarterfinals for the second consecutive World Cup when they face an African team for the eighth time in the final by taking on Senegal in the round of 16 on Sunday.

Senegal are the only team to have won in nine attempts by African teams in knockout stage matches against European nations, beating Sweden at this stage in 2002, and the Teranga Lions have reason to be sure after beating Qatar and Ecuador to finish a point behind. Netherlands in Group A.

Their next opponents produced a much-improved second-half performance to defeat Wales 3-0 shortly after the Africa Cup of Nations champions had advanced, with all the goals in 19 minutes and Marcus Rashford taking his tally for the phase. from groups to three, while his team remained undefeated and won Group B by two points.

Here’s how these teams have fared when they’ve met in the past, as well as a look at England’s results against African teams.

MORE: How to watch England vs Senegal in the UK

History of England vs Senegal

This will be the first senior international match between England and Senegal and is the 13th time that England’s first match against a nation has occurred in the World Cup.

The only instance where they lost one of those games was a 1-0 loss to the USA in 1950. Otherwise, their record says they won seven, drew four.

Senegal is through to the last 16 of the World Cup for the second time, having already done so in their first appearance in 2002, when they reached the quarterfinals. Those wins over Qatar and Ecuador in the group stage also mean Senegal have won back-to-back World Cup matches for the first time.

England record against African teams

England’s luck so far against African teams should give them optimism and give Senegal an incentive to make history.

In 20 such meetings, England have won 14 games and drawn six en route to an unbeaten record. Their most recent improvement to that streak was a 3-0 win over Ivory Coast at Wembley in March 2022.

However, it has not all been smooth sailing: at the World Cup, England failed to win three of their seven games against African teams in 90 minutes.

While there have been some forgettable encounters between them, there has also been drama and at least one classic.

In the 1990 quarter-final, England were seven minutes from being knocked out by Cameroon in Italy when Gary Lineker, a man still all too familiar to English viewers in his role as a BBC presenter, made it 2-2 with a redeeming penalty.

Lineker added another successful penalty kick midway through extra time as England went ahead after underplaying opponents inspired by icon Roger Milla.

More recently, at a World Cup, there was a late save for England again when stoppage-time winner Harry Kane sealed a 2-1 win against Tunisia as England launched another run to the semi-finals in 2018.

Here is the list of times England have faced African rivals in the World Cup final that they have yet to lose.