A and U23 selection: The Lions roar, the Cubs sleep (By Oumar Boubacar NDONGO) April 20, 2026

Senegal has formalized the new coach of the U23 national team, it is Serigne Saliou Dia. So far, nothing unusual you might say. Every team appoints and sacks its managers in world football, in a cycle that repeats itself indefinitely. Except that the position with us had been vacant for three years. Yes, since the failure to qualify for the 2023 U23 CAN against Mali on March 28, 2023 Demba Mbaye, the coach at the time had left his position, and no one has been inducted. And the worst thing is that since that date, the team has fallen into oblivion: NO MATCHES played in more than three years, not even a friendly meeting to keep the team going instead of keeping it alive. It’s as if the trauma of the elimination against Mali (0-3 defeat after a 3-1 success in the first leg) had plunged the U23s into a vegetative state.

Suffice it to say that this situation is profoundly absurd. On the one hand, the A selection made the whole of Africa tremble with a title at CAN 2025, a 2026 World Cup to compete with a golden generation. On the other side, a U23 selection which no longer exists.

The fall was nevertheless avoidable. After the defeat, the Federation and the National Technical Directorate were singled out for their management: players like Cheikh Tidiane Sidibé and Dion Lopy, holders and executives of the U23s, had been summoned by Aliou Cissé to the A team, even though they could have stayed with the Olympics. It’s not a lack of talent, it’s a lack of governance. A calendar error. A symptom of a system that sacrifices the future on the altar of the present.

However, several talented players can join the team and lead it to the firmament. Ousmane Diao (21 years), Mamour Ndiaye (20 years), Abdou Fané Dramé (PSG, 19 years), Sankhoum Bocoum Diawara (19 years), Ibrahima Ba (20 years), Modou Keba Cissé (20 years), Daouda Traoré (19 years), Mouhamadou Kante (20 years), Yaya Diémé (18 years), Seydina Diop (20 years), Assane Sow (19 years old), Serigne Abdou Deme (Juventus NG/ 21 years old), Paul Mendy (19 years old). It is therefore time to restore order, and prepare for the qualifications for the CAN U23 2027, and the 2028 Olympics. The paradox is cruel. Senegal has never had so many quality young players scattered across the best leagues in the world. In Ligue 1, La Liga, the Premier League, the Bundesliga, or in other European championships, boys aged 18 to 23 who play at a high level every week and who, for some, have never put on the U23 jersey. Raw talents, power winners, who could have constituted the best African Olympic selection of all time. Instead? Three years of nothingness. The example could be painful in view of the current dispute, but the Moroccan model could be useful to us. Morocco has built a coherent Olympic selection, with a stable staff, a playing identity, a clear pipeline between the U17s, the U20s and the U23s. That’s what a vision is. That’s what sports policy is all about. We entrust the youth teams to serious technicians, we give them time, we build continuity. In Senegal, we appoint a U23 coach when we think about it. We change it when things are not going well (Demba Mbaye had only managed 4 matches). We forget to call the players. And when the U23 CAN arrives, we run to make up for lost time.

Appointing a new coach will be good news. But it is only a first step. A schedule of friendly matches and structured detection will be required. And the players are there, within reach of the list.

What this U23 selection can become, if we take it seriously, is beyond imagination. The Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games are not that far away. Neither will the next U23 CAN. With the talents available, with good organization, Senegal could not only qualify its Cubs but aim for the Olympic medal, this holy grail which has eluded all of Africa for too long. And above all ensure a bright future with the A’s. But for that, we must decide today that the U23s are not a second-tier selection. That preparing for the future is as important as winning tonight. That Mané, Koulibaly and Pape Matar Sarr did not fall from the sky, they were trained, built, supported. And that the future champions are perhaps right now waiting for a call that does not come.

The future coach will have a job ahead of him. The raw material is there. The question is simple: will the FSF give him the means, the time and the vision to do something with it? Or will the Cubs sleep for three more years?

The Lions roar. It’s time for the Cubs to learn to roar, too.