The manager of one of Africa's biggest teams has insisted his side can win the FIFA World Cup.
Coach Aliou Cisse has made a rather surprising claim, revealing that he feels his team, Senegal, can go on to win football's biggest team trophy in the near future.
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He has already won the Africa Cup of Nations as a manager, doing so in 2022 when the Lions Of Teranga got their hands on the title for the first time in their history, but believes they could go one step further, although he would ultimately prefer the AFCON trophy to reaching the World Cup semi-finals.
"I'd prefer to win another [AFCON in Morocco in 2025]," the 48-year-old answered when asked to choose between winning the AFCON and reaching the next World Cup semi-finals in an interview with Fabrice Hawkins of RMC Sport.
"Even if you win a World Cup, an AFCON is still something special.
"I know that Senegal are capable of winning the World Cup in the future. That is clear.
"With this generation that are coming of age, they are capable of doing big things.
"That starts with qualifying for the upcoming AFCON in 2025 and then having a great tournament to bring back that trophy that eluded us in the Ivory Coast."
Unfortunately for Cisse, Senegal's participation in the most recent editions of both tournaments have not gone well. The Lions of Teranga went to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as the highest-ranked African nation and were considered dark horses by many for that competition, but were dumped out by England at the round of 16 stage.
At the 2023 AFCON, meanwhile, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by hosts and eventual winners Ivory Coast.
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According to the latest FIFA World rankings, Senegal are 17th overall and second in Africa, trailing only Morocco.
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