Former Senegal national team coach, Alain Giresse, has expressed strong optimism about the steady rise of African football, insisting the continent is increasingly capable of replicating or even surpassing Morocco’s remarkable run to the semi-finals at the last World Cup.
Speaking in an interview with Wiw Sport, Giresse argued that while tournament football remains unpredictable, the current generation of players in Senegal possess enough quality to challenge for a place in the semi-finals.
“I think that from one World Cup to the next, Africa is moving forward and progressing. As you said, it was Morocco that reached the semi-finals in the last edition in Qatar,” said Giresse.
“With ten qualified countries, the possibility of taking even more nations to the semi-finals exists; we have to take it one step at a time.
“I think that one day, an African country will play in the final. If we’re talking about Senegal, it has the potential to at least reach the semi-finals.
“Of course, we know there can be unforeseen events during matches, but intrinsically, the potential is there. We see that African teams are increasingly displaying a level that is approaching the top and the best rankings in the world.
Looking ahead to the tournament, Senegal are set to open their campaign against France before taking on Norway and Iraq in Group I.
Senegal’s most successful World Cup outing came in 2002, when they reached the quarter-finals on their debut appearance, a feat that remains tied as the best performance ever recorded by an African nation at the global tournament.
