England’s preparations for next year’s World Cup suffered a significant jolt as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday night — their first ever loss to African opposition.
Despite taking an early lead through captain Harry Kane, the Three Lions were undone by goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly at the City Ground, prompting jeers from the home crowd and leaving manager Thomas Tuchel with serious questions to answer.
Tuchel, appointed to bring long-awaited silverware to English shores, was visibly frustrated with his side’s lethargic 1-0 win over Andorra in Saturday’s World Cup qualifier. He responded with sweeping changes — 10 in total — retaining only Kane from that performance.
The move appeared to pay immediate dividends. Inside seven minutes, Anthony Gordon forced a save from Edouard Mendy, who could only parry the Everton winger’s effort into the path of Kane. The Bayern Munich striker made no mistake, netting his 73rd international goal and continuing his record of scoring in every match under Tuchel.
However, the early promise quickly evaporated. Sarr capitalised on a lapse in concentration from Kyle Walker to turn in Nicolas Jackson’s cross, levelling the match with a precise finish into the bottom corner.
Dean Henderson, handed a rare start ahead of Jordan Pickford, impressed in spells with sharp saves from Sarr and Idrissa Gana Gueye, but was left exposed by a disjointed England back line.
Senegal, buoyed by their form since losing to England in the 2022 World Cup, took full control after the break. Diarra ghosted in behind the England defence on 63 minutes, slotting calmly between Henderson’s legs to complete the turnaround.
England responded with urgency and nearly equalised through Bukayo Saka and Morgan Gibbs-White, only to be denied by a resurgent Mendy.
Jude Bellingham looked to have salvaged a late equaliser when he rifled in from a corner, but the goal was chalked off after VAR adjudged Levi Colwill to have handled the ball in the build-up.
Senegal compounded England’s misery in stoppage time with a slick counter-attack, finished clinically by Sabaly, sealing a famous win for the visitors.
England’s unbeaten run against African nations, which stretched over 21 matches, came to a humbling end, with the home supporters voicing their discontent at full-time.
“It’s not good enough,” admitted Kane post-match. “We had our moments, but things aren’t clicking. We’ve lost that aggressive nature we had.”
Tuchel, who has now won just two of his opening four matches in charge, struck a defiant tone.
“We need to see the players under these kinds of conditions against top teams,” he said. “We don’t go to the World Cup next week. We go in one year.”
Nevertheless, with just a handful of fixtures remaining before the squad assembles for the tournament, the pressure is mounting on the German to find answers — and fast.
