In Senegal, the national team is ‘the drug of the people’. They will bring joy and noise to this World Cup (original) (raw)
As part of our Language of Soccer World Cup series, The Athletic is speaking to supporters of all 48 nations competing at the 2026 edition to capture their unique football culture, distilled into a single phrase. You can read the articles in one place here.
“Senegal Rekk” — Senegal Only
Senegal’s footballing history might be brief, but it is proud and passionate.
The West African country’s first international match came against Benin a year after gaining independence from France, on New Year’s Eve 1961.
Senegal’s first World Cup tournament came as recently as 2002, when they played in the opening game against the French, who were the reigning world champions.
There, they won 1-0 thanks to the late Papa Bouba Diop’s goal in a match rich in geopolitical connotations, en route to the quarter-finals — a stage only four African teams have ever reached.
A gifted new generation has helped Senegal make it to three of the past four Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals and climb to 14th in FIFA’s world rankings.
Yet the unifying theme among fans — men, women, young and old — is that, despite the sport’s relative youth, it is tightly woven into the fabric of the country.
“Football is in our DNA,” says supporter Boubou Sow, 36. “When you are born in Senegal, the first thing you do is play football. In cities or on beaches… everyone loves it.”
Fellow fan Abdoul Ahad Dia says: “When the Senegalese national team plays, everything stops. Schools, banks, everything.
“Here, it’s the drug of the people.”
The team’s nickname, Les Lions de la Teranga (the Lions of Teranga), helps explain the unique footballing culture of Senegal, a sprawling nation with about 18 million inhabitants and covering around 76,000 square miles.
Teranga, or teraanga, means hospitality and kindness in Wolof, the most widely spoken language in the country.
As _The Athletic_’s Tamerra Griffin explains, a warm welcome is “the bedrock of Senegal’s national identity, evident in the way foreigners are cared for”.
Mimi Sonko, 36, from the Allez Casa fan group, says: “When you come to Senegal, you really like it, you integrate quickly. Even if you’re from abroad, you feel like you’re from Senegal, feel even more at home than in your home country.”
Hospitality is not typically associated with a lion (mbarodi in the Pulaar language) and Dia summarises the dichotomy between a lion’s power, balanced against the sportsmanship with which the players try to compete.
“The lion is king of the jungle, king of the savannah. But… it’s not worth being king of somewhere without a certain hospitality.”
Senegal’s national team are known as the Lions of Teranga (Issam Zerrok/Hans Lucas for AFP via Getty)
Yet while the spirit of teranga is alive and well, it wasn’t the phrase Senegal fans said best represents being a fan of their country.
That honour fell to “Senegal rekk” — combining the country’s name with the Wolof word for ‘only’.
“It’s our famous phrase,” explains Simon Ndiaye, 35, another Dakarois from the capital. “It has the sense of ‘Senegal first’, ‘Only Senegal’, or ‘Power to Senegal’. It’s our slogan.”
Supporters have rallied around the phrase, which reflects a “unifying culture bringing together Senegalese people from all walks of life, all religions and persuasions”, says Dia, 37.
Fan Ngonei Ba, 29, adds: “Adults, kids… everyone loves football. People are so passionate about football here, honestly. The country lives and breathes it every day.”
The ‘Seven Letters’ help lead the dancing in the stands (Abdel Majid Bziouat for AFP via Getty)
Though that passion in the stands is omnipresent regardless of whether Senegal are winning or losing, it helps that their national team are so strong these days.
Senegal beat Morocco (eighth in FIFA’s rankings), on the pitch at least, in January’s AFCON final, became the first African country to beat England (placed fourth by FIFA) last June and defeated Brazil (sixth) in 2023.
This crop is a tantalising mixture of experience and youth, just like the 2002 squad.
The spine of the team provides that experience: goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, both 34, once played for Chelsea and captain Koulibaly has made 103 international appearances.
Midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye, 36, has played a record 131 times for Senegal, while star forward Sadio Mane, 33, has a record 53 goals for his nation. The latter, who scored 120 goals and won the Premier League and Champions League with Liverpool, is adored by Senegalese fans.
“Mane has so much longevity, character, and love for Senegal,” says Ba, from coastal north-western city Saint-Louis. “He’s the best Senegalese player ever. We have never had a player of his level. Mane has taken the Senegal shirt around the world.”
Dakar-based Dia, part of the Ultra 221 fan group alongside Ndiaye and Sow, agrees: “He left his home village (Bambali), started with nothing, from zero to hero.
“He has won everything, he really loves the team and vice versa. A model of self-sacrifice and success.”
But the kids are alright, too, and several up-and-comers are name-checked as ones to watch.
Chelsea defender Mamadou Sarr, 20, stepped in superbly for an injured Koulibaly in the AFCON final. Midfielder Lamine Camara, 22, has been excelling for French side Monaco, and 19-year-old Idrissa Gueye (no relation to his older near-namesake) is a talent as well, though this tournament has come too soon for him.
But the brightest prospect might be Paris Saint-Germain’s Ibrahim Mbaye, 18, who impressed in becoming Senegal’s youngest goalscorer during the 2025 AFCON. “You can tell Mbaye has great potential,” says Dia. “He could become the next Sadio Mane. Every time he has played, he has gone above and beyond what we expected.”
The Senegal players won’t be the only ones enlivening this summer’s World Cup.
New York/New Jersey and Toronto, the host cities for their three Group I fixtures, should prepare for colour, noise and spirit they’ve never experienced before.
Fans draped in the country’s tricolour flag two-step, dance and jive — led tirelessly by the body-paint-sporting ‘Seven Letters’ — to the constant drumming. They really are Le 12eme Gainde (The 12th Lion), alongside the 11 on the pitch.
̶D̶r̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ Painted to the nines… 🇸🇳@charlotteharpur will be watching #ENGSEN with these Senegal fans – an evening full of colour and chanting awaits 🎶 pic.twitter.com/L8lBpsJv2n
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 4, 2022
“We welcome everyone and, through our songs and tam-tams (drums), get the other fans fired up to be in harmony and give our team a boost,” says Ndiaye. “Sabar, the dance of the tam-tams, it’s like the samba from Brazil, but we do it our way.”
“Senegalese fans travel with a lot of joy,” adds Dakar-born Parisian Sow. “Very respectful, very fun, to enjoy and show our culture. We are ambassadors of our country, so we have to do only good things. We will share the fun.”
Dia continues: “The World Cup is a celebration which brings together and blends many, many cultures, and that’s far more important than winning.
“In Senegal, you watch football and eat traditional dishes like thieboudienne (red rice and marinated fish), maafe (peanut-butter stew) — not forgetting attaya (mint tea) and bissap (hibiscus juice). The culinary aspect (of watching football) is really good.”
Many Senegal supporters would love to travel to North America for this tournament. Whether they make it there is another question.
Stringent and expensive visa restrictions for fans imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration have sparked complex emotions. Some are considering a boycott.
As The Athletic reported in March, some must deposit up to $15,000 (£11,400) in bond payments for a tourist visa to enter the United States. Those who leave before their visas expire are set to recover their money, but the measure may preclude or deter many from travelling at all.
“It’s a disgrace,” says Senegalese football journalist Mounire Sonko. “Banning fans from a qualified country to support their team is discriminatory.
“That’s something we don’t need in football. People are disappointed, and currently a boycott is the most widely shared sentiment among fans.”
Sonko, based in leafy southern city Ziguinchor, says: “Trump’s statement was polemical, but our government is making efforts to send fans.”
A wooden sign on the Pointe des Almadies beach in Dakar, the westernmost tip of Africa, declares Washington, D.C. is 3,957 miles away.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is a little closer at 3,820 miles and hosts Senegal’s first World Cup group match on June 16.
Their opponents? Familiar foes France, before meetings with Norway and Iraq, and then potentially fellow African sides Ivory Coast or Morocco in the knockout stages.
“France vs Senegal always has a certain something,” says Dia. “Naturally, the biggest rival of the group is France.”
Given the AFCON title was retrospectively stripped and handed to Morocco — a decision Senegal have appealed against — facing them would bring serious spice too.
Whoever they come up against, Senegal fans are realistic — but full of self-belief.
Sow says: “We always had a nice, kind team. But what was missing was more of a winning spirit, more aggressive, uninhibited and self-assured. The mentality where we feel we can beat everyone in Africa. We respect all teams, but we know our strengths.”
“Senegal’s team is often underestimated,” Ndiaye agrees. “They are tipped as underdogs but the team has proven they are much stronger than that.”
“Our players are so talented,” says Ba. “We are more mature, we are not afraid of any other team. Other teams should be afraid of facing us. We are definitely among the footballing powerhouses.”
And Sonko?
“They are strong lions. They could even win the World Cup.”
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