Presidential Of The Last 16 Of The 2022 World Cup, England Vs Senegal: The African Team Never Wins Against Three Lions

JAKARTA - There are statistics that can be a trigger but also obstacles that Senegal must pay attention to when facing England that African teams have never won out of a total of 21 meetings with the Three Lions.

Whether it was the African champion who ended the curse or even extended the unpleasant record from the black continent. It will all be answered Monday morning at the Al Bayt Stadium in the fourth match of the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup.

This unpleasant record overshadows Senegal. But the threat of poor performance also haunts England captain Harry Kane.

Kane, who has scored 51 goals for his country and has two goals adrift of Wayne Rooney, who is the England's all-time leading goalscorer, has not fully demonstrated his abilities and has barely fired a single shot on target during the tournament.

However, Kane's goal drought did not prevent England from reaching the last 16. In contrast, Kane's failure to break into the opponent's goal was even positive for other players.

The Three Lions have so far scored nine goals, three of which were made by Marcus Rashford. Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka also scored which made coach Gareth Southgate not prolific by Harry Kane.

But that makes Southgate faced with a dilemma of choosing the best from the one who is ready.

Kane himself survived because Southgate will always set him up in the starting lineup because even though he hasn't scored, Kane is the main terror for England's opponents to be careless in guarding Foden, Sterling, Saka, and Rashford.

England, which qualified for the last 16 after beating Iran and Wales but were held to a draw by the United States, finished as winners of Group B, also being one of the two most fertile teams besides Spain, scoring 9 goals.

Senegal is actually no less productive. They reached the knockout round by holding the title of runner-up in Group A after defeating Ecuador and Qatar but being defeated by the Dutch who won this group.

Senegal was named Africa's champion earlier this year and despite Sadio Mane's mainstay injury, the Teranga Lion remains as strong as before with the experience and special touch of coach Aliou Cisse.

There is no reason for the UK to underestimate Senegal just because the statistics sided with them.

"Senegal will be difficult to beat," Southgate said as quoted by Antara via Reuteras. "They are very well organized, have many good players playing in major European leagues."

Senegal had the opportunity to stop Africa's bad record but unfortunately they had to appear without coach Aliou Cisse due to illness.

Senegal's trial got tougher after not being able to field midfielder Idrissa Gueye who got a second yellow card against Ecuador.

"He (Cisse) was sick for a few days so we had to lead the drills with his instructions," said assistant coach Regis Bogaert. "But we believe at 10 p.m. he will be there with the team."

Bogaert believes Senegal will create a surprise that will make the world know how high the achievement of football in the country is.

"Earning England would be a great achievement. If we can beat a team like England, it sends a very strong message about the progress we have made," concluded Bogaert.

Predictions of the first eleven players

England (4-3-3): Jordan Pickford; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw; Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham; Marcus Rashford, Harry Kane, Phil Foden

Senegal (4-3-3): Edouard Mendy; Youssouf Sabaly, Kalidou Koulibaly, Abdou Diallo, Ismail Jakobs; Pape Gueye, Nampalys Mendy, Pathe Ciss; Iliman Ndiaye, Boulaye Dia, Ismaila Sarr

Important statistics and head to head

This match is the first meeting between the two teams.

After Marcus Rashford's second goal when he beat Wales 3-0, England became the seventh team to reach the World Cup 100 goals milestone after Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, France and Spain.

Senegal had reached the knockout phase of the last World Cup in 2002 when coach Aliou Cisse became team captain.

England cannot be defeated by African teams in all of the 21 meetings. In the World Cup, England won three times and drew three times against African teams.