2026 World Cup: Senegal ‘suffering from curse’ of AFCON winner

Senegal’s narrow 3-2 defeat to Norway in their second group fixture at the 2026 World Cup, leaves them on the brink of elimination.

The Teranga Lions won the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations against hosts Morocco, before they were controversially stripped of the title by CAF.

The case is currently at the Court of Arbitration.

However, historically, AFCON winners have found it difficult to translate their Nations Cup successes to the World Cup in the immediate aftermath of their continental glory.

In the past, only Nigeria (1994), Nigeria (2014) and Senegal (2022) have gone past the group stages while they were reigning African champions.

The winners in 1988, Cameroon, went all the way to the quarterfinals in 1990, but by then, they had been dethroned as African champions by Algeria.

In fact, it’s far more common for the reigning AFCON champions to fail to qualify for the competition, let alone flop in the group stage, with success in the continent rarely a guarantee of an impressive World Cup campaign.

Senegal, however, still stand a chance of crawling into the Round of 32, as the eight best third-placed teams can still progress to the knockouts.

But they would need a win against Iraq in their final group game.