The

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

of football, the most popular sport in Senegal, in the country of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

is run by the

Senegalese Football Federation The Senegalese Football Federation (french: Fédération Sénégalaise de Football; FSF) is the governing body of football in Senegal. It is based in the capital of Senegal, Dakar, and was founded in 1960. The FSF aided in the development of footb ...

. The association administers the national football team, as well as the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Some of the most notable players from the country include Roger Mendy,

Jules Bocandé Jules François Bocandé (25 November 1958 – 7 May 2012), was a Senegalese professional footballer who played as a striker. Bocandé is regarded as one of West Africa's best footballers of all time and was named an African Football Legend by ...

, Tony Sylva, Henri Camara,

El Hadji Diouf El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf (; born 15 January 1981) is a Senegalese former professional footballer. Throughout his career, Diouf played as a winger or a forward. Having started his professional football career in France with Sochaux, Rennes ...

Sadio Mané Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Senegal national team. Considered one of the best players in the world and amongst the greatest African ...

and

Kalidou Koulibaly Kalidou Koulibaly (born 20 June 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea and the Senegal national team. Koulibaly began his professional club career with French team Metz in 2010, before mo ...

League system

The Senegalese league system is divided into two leagues: Ligue 1 to Ligue 2, equivalent to the leagues in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and has been professional since 2007. The lower three are divided into Nationale 1 and 2 which are amateur levels. Until 2008, they were called Division 1, 2, 3 and 4. Senegal also feature cup competitions, a major cup being the

Senegal FA Cup The Senegal FA Cup is the top knock-out tournament in Senegalese football. It was created in 1961.Senegal - Li ...

, which was founded in the 1980s. Another cup is the Senegalese Super Cup, which was known as the National Assembly Cup, created in 1979, the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

created in 2009 and the Champion's Trophy created in 2014.

History

Football in Senegal has been introduced around the 20th century during French colonial rule. One of the first clubs of the country were

ASC Jeanne d'Arc Association Sportive et Culturelle Jeanne d'Arc or ASC Jeanne d'Arc for short is a Senegalese football club based in Dakar. It was founded in 1923 and one of the oldest in the country. They play at the Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor. The club ...

and Foyer France Senegal. After independence, Foyer France Senegal became

ASC Diaraf Association Sportive et Culturelle Jaraaf is a Senegalese football club based in Dakar. They play in the top division in Senegalese football. Their home stadium is Stade de Diaraf. The club name is sometimes spelt ASC Jaraaf. The word ''Diaraf'' ...

. Numerous clubs were created in the 1970s and the 1990s. For many seasons, all of the clubs participating comes from the western part of the country where Dakar, Saint-Louis and Ziguinchor are located. The Second Division was created in the 1970s, the Third and the Fourth Divisions were later created and in the 1990s, the regional divisions were created. The newest clubs in Senegal are Diambars and

Génération Foot Académie Génération Foot, also called Association Sportive Génération Foot is an association football club founded in 2000 in Dakar, Senegal. The Stade Déni Biram Ndao, which has a capacity of 1,001, is their home stadium. History Académie ...

, the two were in Ligue 1 as of the 2016-17 season, the latter spending their first season. Diaraf is the leader in the number of titles numbering 11 championship and 15 cup titles. ASC Jeanne d'Arc is second with 10 championship and 6 cup titles. Next is AS Douanes Gorée and several more clubs, several have a title each. Several clubs including Diaraf and Jeanne d'Arc competed in the continental championship and cup competitions, the two competed the most.

Stadiums

Stade Demba Diop and Stade de Diaraf are its busiest stadiums in Senegal and has the largest seating capacity, they are located in the capital Dakar.

National team

The men's national football team's greatest international success was reaching the quarter-finals of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

, becoming only the second African team at the time to do so. The nation won their first Africa Cup of Nations title in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. They also reached the final in 2002 and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Seasons in Senegalese football

First-tier championships

References

{{Football in Africa