Senegal is the first nation to reach the semifinals of the 2019 AFCON in Egypt. The Teranga lions picked up their qualification ticket after beating the squirrels of Benin this evening by 1 goal to 0 at the 30 June Stadium in Cairo.

 The lone goal of the match came at the 69th minute when Idrissa Gueye brilliantly netted in a beautiful pass from Sadiou Mane. Mane doubled lead for Senegal at the 73rd minute but the goal was ruled out by VAR on the basis of offside.

At the end of 90 + 5 minutes, the Teranga lions sailed through to the semis while the journey ended for the squirrels who had an impressive run throughout the tournament; unbeaten by favorites Ghana, Cameroon and Morocco .

This is the first time the lions of Teranga are qualifying for the AFCON semifinals in over a decade. The last time they got to that stage was in 2006 in Egypt. Since then, they have failed on all other occasions to cross the quarter finals. Their last attempt was in 2017 in Gabon against Cameroon but they couldn’t sail through as the indomitable lions defeated them in a penalty shootout.

Senegal is now on course to winning their first ever AFCON title. Though the favorites are ranked 1st on the continent, they have never lifted the AFCON trophy. So Senegalese are expecting a lot from this squad that has proved its worth over the years. The boys of Coach Aliou Cisse will either face Tunisia or Madagascar in Cairo on Sunday. A win for them will take them to the finals of the competition.