In an amazing show of skill and dominance, Senegal secured Africa’s first ticket to the U-17 FIFA World Cup after defeating South Africa 5-0 in the quarter final of the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers on Wednesday evening.

This is the first time ever that Senegal have advanced beyond the group stages of the U-17 AFCON, as well as the first time they have ever qualified for the U-17 FIFA World Cup.

Duncan Crowie’s team conceded two own goals in quick succession. The first one was a result of a lack of urgency as Amajimbos were slow to react to Senegal’s attack, Goal.com reports.

Yaya Dieme flung the ball into the box from the right flank, but when Waylon Renecke attempted to clear the ball, he miscued his effort and it went into the back of his own net in the 36th minute.

Three minutes later, captain Benjamin Wallis had a moment to forget when he stood over a freekick on the edge of the box, which was parried by goalkeeper Gennaro Johnson. However, the danger was not cleared as it fell on the path of the skipper, who tried to clear but had to watch his attempted clearance crawling into the back of the net.

Senegal captain Mamadou Sadio got the third goal at the stroke of half-time, and again, Amajimbos’ defence were caught in sixes and sevens as they could not clear their lines, giving Mamadou ample time to take a shot from distance.
The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was called into action when Amara Diouf’s goal was suspected to have been offside, but after a few minutes of VAR check, the goal was legit. On the 70th minute mark, Diouf completed his brace to make the score-line more emphatic.

The scoreline was symbolic of the Teranga Cub’s dominance as they didn’t allow Amajimbos to have a shot at goal.

This contest serves as qualification for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup with four teams qualifying for the showpiece this December. Having bombed out in the quarter-finals, this means Crowie’s side will have to watch the tournament from home. Meanwhile, Senegal celebrate qualification for a second successive World Cup.