Senegal’s 1-0 victory over France in 2002 is probably the biggest opening sensation in World Cup history to date. 24 years later, both teams meet again at the start of the tournament.
It wasn’t just as a player that Paul Gascoigne provided one or two entertaining anecdotes. Even as a TV expert, some of the former England international’s words are remembered.
One of the most famous came during half-time in the group game between France and Senegal at the 2002 World Cup: “Senegal? Never heard of it.“The fact that “Gazza” actually meant the Senegalese players, who were unknown to him, did not detract from the effect. His sentence underlined the sensation of that memorable May 31st, when the football world stared open-mouthed at Seoul.
When Senegal duped the world champions
Senegal made football history that day: In the opening game of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea – at that time the world champions and not the hosts opened the tournament – the “Lions of Teranga” sensationally defeated the world champions 1-0 in their first ever appearance on the World Cup stage. Two games later, France were quietly eliminated without scoring their own goal. Senegal’s path, on the other hand, led to the quarter-finals, where only a golden goal from Türkiye in the 94th minute ended the journey.
“I still remember how tense we were“, says Tony Sylva, then goalkeeper, now Senegal’s goalkeeping coach, looking back.”No one said a word, everyone was focused on the task at hand. The coach had found the right words to touch us. Not just as players, but also as people.“
Zidane was missing from the start of the 2002 World Cup
There was little to nothing to support this result at the time. France were not only world champions, but also European champions and last won the Confederations Cup in 2001. Only the absence of Zinédine Zidane, who had recently been injured, clouded the picture of the almost overwhelming “Equipe Tricolore“.
On the other side, Senegal was a blatant outsider. Hardly anyone believed that the then 42nd in the FIFA world rankings would survive the preliminary round, let alone trip up the big favorite.
David Trezeguet (l.) in a duel.
Diop becomes Senegal’s hero
The French were also the better team at the beginning. David Trezéguet hit the post in the 22nd minute. But Senegal’s coach Bruno Metsu, himself French and now deceased, had his team’s tactically excellent approach; Goalkeeper Sylva acted as support for an extremely compact defense. And then came the 30th minute: El Hadji Diouf passed the ball past Frank Leboeuf on the left side, then played across the penalty area and Papa Bouba Diop pushed the ball over the line as he followed up.
What followed was perhaps the most iconic goal celebration of this World Cup: Diop laid his jersey on the grass and his teammates danced around it. Images that went around the world. “My goal against Les Bleus marked my life forever” Diop recalled years later. In 2020, he died at the age of 42 as a result of a rare nervous disease.
Pape Thiaw was also there in 2002, but only on the bench. Today he is the national coach of Senegal. “I should have actually been on the pitch back then“he remembers.”This time I’m there. Unpredictable things sometimes happen in football. It will be a very special game.“
Will top favorite France stumble again?
Before the new meeting on Tuesday (9 p.m. CEST), the starting situation has changed – but is somehow still the same: Senegal is still an outsider against the co-favorites for the World Cup title, who are full of stars in all positions. However, France will not underestimate its opponent. The almost African champion not only has outstanding individual talents like Sadio Mané, but also experience and depth in all parts of the team.
This is also known on the French side. “This game is going to be crazy. May the better one win“, said former Mainz professional Jean-Philippe Mateta. There is a lot at stake for France: Didier Deschamps’ star ensemble recently stumbled when they were defeated by the Ivory Coast in their World Cup preparations. Another difficult task awaits Norway in Group I. A win against Senegal would not only provide confidence early on, it would also drive away the evil spirits from Seoul.