Head coach of Senegal, Aliou Cisse, has said his side were eliminated from the World Cup by England, because of their mistakes.
Cisse rued his team’s defensive lapses after their 3-0 defeat to the Three Lions in Sunday’s 2022 World Cup Round of 16 clash.
Goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka earned the Three Lions a comprehensive 3-0 victory over the Lions of Teranga at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.
Cisse admitted there had been a gulf in quality between the two teams, but he promised that his side will come back improved at the 2026 World Cup finals which will be co-hosted by Canada, USA and Mexico.
“A match lasts 90 minutes and in the first half we played pretty well and created chances but unfortunately we didn’t score,” Cisse told the media.
“We were playing a very good England team and we saw that in their challenges, their physical strength. We weren’t as good as we should have been.
“Senegal’s strength before the World Cup was our defensive set-up. The fact we have let in a lot of goals at this tournament is difficult to explain. We are going to have to look at that,” the retired defensive midfielder continued.
“You pay for any mistake you make at the World Cup because of the calibre of the teams.
“We have worked for years to be the best in Africa but we were facing one of the top five teams in the world and we saw the difference tonight.
“We have been trying hard to reach this level and we need to continue to ensure that at the next World Cup we can play better against a team of this calibre.”