Senegal goalkeeper, Edouard Mendy, has claimed that absences of Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gueye and Cheikhou Kouyate affected the team as they lost 3-0 to England in the 2022 World Cup.
The Teranga Lions faced the Three Lions in the Round of 16 fixture.
Mane had already been ruled out of the global competition in the Gulf nation after picking an injury while playing for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile, Kouyate started in their Group A opener against the Netherlands and suffered an injury while Gueye was suspended for accumulated yellow cards.
“Dealing with defeat is not difficult. We came up against a better team than us, we have to accept that, England played at their best,” Mendy said as quoted by Fifa.com.
“They also had all their players at their disposal while we were missing some key players. We had to play without Sadio. We also had Idrissa [Gueye] and Cheikhou [Kouyate] missing.
“So, when you play against a team like that with key players missing, it is complicated.
“But throughout the tournament and throughout the year, we have shown that Senegal is more than 11 players, it is a group.
“We will continue to move forward, to progress and we will come back stronger in the 2026 World Cup, God willing.”
