Idrissa Gana Gueye and Senegal bullish ahead of England tie - 'The last 16 at 2022 World Cup is not the objective'

ByRob Hemingway

Published 30/11/2022 at 20:49 GMT

Idrissa Gana Gueye is bullish ahead of Senegal's last-16 tie with England at the 2022 World Cup, with the Everton midfielder declaring his belief that the Lions of Teranga can defeat Gareth Southgate's men. Gueye says Senegal - the African Cup of Nations champions - have "no limits" and that they are already looking ahead beyond their first knockout tie in Qatar.

Idrissa Gana Gueye is bullish ahead of Senegal's last-16 tie with England at the World Cup, with the midfielder declaring his country has "no limits".

Senegal edged through to the knockouts with a late 2-1 win over Ecuador in their final group game, taking six points from their three games.

Aliou Cisse's side, the African Cup of Nations champions from earlier this year, have been without their injured talisman Sadio Mane, but their performance against Ecuador gave Gueye increased confidence.

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“The last 16 is not the objective," he said. "We see beyond that. We have no limits.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground, not get carried away, and stay focused from the start to the end.

"We have a squad to go far. We’re not going to fix any limits because if we play like we did against Ecuador we can do something really interesting in this competition.”

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Gueye will, however, not feature in the tie with Gareth Southgate's side, having earned himself a suspension after two bookings in the group stages. Nonetheless, he has belief in his team-mates to get the job done.

“I’m really disappointed but I’m happy for the team," he said.

"I’m just hoping they can do the job and I can play in the quarter-finals. We keep saying that we need the whole squad and we can only do this all together.

“We have a big experience in the AFCON and, in that sort of competition, you need everybody, not just 11 or 12.

Idrissa Gana Gueye and Famara Diedhiou of Senegal celebrate after their sides victory during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group A match between Ecuador and Senegal at Khalifa International Stadium on November 29, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.

Image credit: Getty Images

"It is 26 players and everybody has to be committed.”

Captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who scored the vital winning goal that took the Lions of Teranga into the knockouts with their victory over Ecuador, issued a rallying call to his country's supporters ahead of Sunday's clash at Al Bayt Stadium.

“This is only the beginning," the Chelsea defender said. "Don’t party, don’t be happy.

“We did something good but it’s only the beginning. We are Senegal, we fear no one.

"Senegal are better when they have their backs against the wall. There are a lot of teams that don’t want to play against us.”

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