Senegal’s Cup Defence on the Line Against Hosts Côte d’Ivoire

Defending champion, Senegal, will renew their rivalry with hosts, Cote d’Ivoire today at the ongoing AFCON 2023 at the Charles Konan Banny Stadium in Yamoussoukro for a quarter-final berth.

The Lions of Teranga booked their spot in this round of the tournament as the only side with a perfect score in the group stage and ranked top as the favorite to retain the cup but they must fly past underperforming Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire this evening to get close the dream of an encore.

Senegal are enjoying a seven-match unbeaten run across all competitions with the reigning AFCON champions having recorded six victories and one draw.

The host nation suffered a 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in their final group A match on 22 January, but still advanced to the Round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Their heavy defeat by Equatorial Guinea extended the Elephants' winless run to two matches across all competitions, having registered two consecutive defeats.

Senegal could be without Pape Gueye who left the field of play due to injury in the game against Guinea. His teammate Abdallah Sima has been ruled out for the remainder of the AFCON finals due to a thigh injury.

“I am very satisfied with our players. We had good preparations since camping in December," Aliou Cisse said.

"We were in a tough group of death with strong opposition and won all three, which makes me satisfied. When we lost the final in 2019 to Algeria we learned a lot from that defeat, which allowed us to win the title two years later in Cameroon,” Senegal head coach Cisse concluded.