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In a London restaurant, Senegalese hold heads high despite England disappointment | World Cup

It was a freezing night in east London, but inside Little Baobab, an inconspicuous Senegalese restaurant hidden away in a building in Clapton, there was cautious buzz of optimism. Usually the venue hosts Senegalese musicians, often playing mbalax, a type of Senegalese and Gambian dance music. But tonight, it was all about the football, with the crowd of 40 or so largely hopeful their team could reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for just the second time.

Khadim Mbamba, the restaurant’s chef, refused to sit, but chose instead to lean nervously against a chair at the very back of the room. “Some people have told me Senegal only have a 15% chance of winning,” he said. “I would say 35%. I don’t think there’s going to be many goals, though. 1-0 or 2-1, maybe.”

For Mbamba, it’s significant the team are led by Aliou Cissé, a veteran of the famous 2002 campaign when Senegal beat then world champions France.

“We were coached by French managers so long. Now, most of the African teams are coached by Africans. Every country has its own mentality. A Senegalese manager knows how to handle the team and deal with the players.”

The Senegalese team are no stranger to grief. In the year of the 2002 World Cup campaign, the MV Le Joola, a ferry that connects Senegalese coastal cities, sank and 1,863 people lost their lives. Eleven of them were relatives of Cissé, and his sister was one of the dead. Two years ago, Papa Bouba Diop, the sole scorer in that famous victory against the French, died suddenly at the age of 42. The players led tributes to Diop ahead of their victory against Ecuador.

Though their talisman, Sadio Mané, was cruelly injured before the tournament, and former Paris Saint-Germain Germain midfielder Idrissa Gueye was suspended, this is a Senegalese team with real quality – among them goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and defender Kalidou Koulibaly, both of whom play for Chelsea.

Ndene, a teacher and friend of Khadim, said that for some of the players who don’t play at that level, competing in the knockout rounds of this tournament is an opportunity to earn themselves a move to a bigger club.

“Every team wants to have Harry Kane. But the young Senegalese players really want to prove themselves,” Ndene said. “There are some young players, 23 or 24 years old. Iliman Ndiaye [of Sheffield United] for example, who plays in the Championship. Next year he wants to be in the Premier League.”

Ahead of the kick-off, the Senegalese anthem was hummed discreetly by only a few in the restaurant, but as it went on, more and more joined in, until by the time of the crescendo it was raucous, people standing and belting out the tune. Then, as the game got under way, the room rang with yelps of encouragement and appeals to the referee, peaking when the video assistant referee denied Senegal a penalty after the ball cannoned off the hand of England defender John Stones.

But the positivity drained from the room when England went 2-0 up in added time in the first half. At the break, the mood was subdued, with the Lions of Teranga 2-0 behind.

Behind the projector screen showing the match, enticing smells emanated from stainless steel vats: small deep-fried pastries called fataya, mafe peanut butter and vegetable stew, chicken yassa with onions, caramelised with lime. Customers queued and the food restored some buoyancy.

Ashley grew up in Leyton, and had been to Little Baobab before. “Usually I’d watch an England match at the pub,” she said. “But to come here, to see the Senegalese culture, and eat the great food – it’s a different experience.”

And there was still hope. Reuben is from Derbyshire, but lives in east London. “I’m British through and through,” he said. “But I want to see an African country do well, just one time. I’m happy whoever wins, but now, with Ghana and Cameroon out, it’s all on Senegal.”

Michael, a French national of Senegalese descent, was upbeat. “Senegal have been the better team. I think we have a chance of getting back into it.”

But then it was on again, and just before the hour mark, England added to their lead through Bukayo Saka. Underneath the traditional Senegalese fabric bunting hung from the ceiling, the mood fell flat. Some got up and left. The final whistle blew, and the current holders of the African Cup of Nations were out.

There was applause at full-time. And then the mbalax started back up, rhythmic and intensely joyful.

“It was expected. Now I’m supporting France,” said Michael. So what next? “Keep Aliou as the coach. Now we just look forward to the next African Cup of Nations … and winning it again.”

Senegal or England to win? Parents v children in London’s west African community | World Cup 2022

Football’s capacity to unite is routinely lauded, but Sunday’s World Cup match between England and Senegal has already divided many west African families in London.

The split is generational. Parents say they tend to support Senegal, the country of their birth, while their children opt to support the state they were raised in: England.

Among the former is British citizen Ndene Ndiaye who arrived in London in 2009 from the capital, Dakar, and is hopeful of a slender Senegalese victory.

The 54-year-old, who works at the acclaimed Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in Deptford, south-east London, said: “Senegal represents home and I think they’ll win, but my children were born here and they’re English supporters all the way.”

Behind the fresh food counter at Tomi’s Kitchen, within the heart of Deptford’s sizeable west African population, Peter Odise also confirmed his family had segregated on similar lines.

A staunch Senegal fan – despite hailing from fellow west African state Nigeria – Odise explained that his 16-year-old son was an ardent Arsenal supporter and played for the club’s junior football team.

“Lots of the black community here support Senegal, but the young, including my son, support England.”

Siding with their country of birth had been made easier, said Odise, by the prevalence of black footballers in the England squad.

Among the west African community in this corner of the UK capital, one England player stands above all others: Bukayo Saka.

Odise, 57, said: “Saka has Nigerian parents, but is totally English. He’s inspirational for many. My son wants to be like him.”

Two minutes along Deptford High Street, Emeka, a self-employed exporter from east Nigeria, predicted a 2-1 win for Senegal. Again, it was a result that would not impress his two children, Londoners aged 11 and 14.

“For me that’d be good, I support Africa but they support England,” said the 45-year-old, picking up a portion of fried fish lunch at the Island Buka restaurant.

Among his peers, the footballing success of Senegal – the region’s other World Cup representatives, Ghana, were knocked out on Friday – has united west Africans.

The scenes certain to be witnessed on Sunday at Deptford’s Ivory Restaurant will bear testimony to that regional support.

Hundreds of supporters – many carrying drums and waving Senegalese flags – are expected to congregate in the venue. Herbert Ngassi, who has run the restaurant since 2018, expects it will be a raucous occasion.

Yet such an overt display of national pride is rare for London’s Senegalese diaspora. Ngassi, 44, said they preferred to socialise modestly at each other’s homes, rather than throw ostentatious parties.

“They are a French-speaking community, a hard-working community, a community who, more or less Muslim, does not like to drink and party.”

Ngassi, from Ivory Coast – a traditional powerhouse of west African football but which failed to qualify for the World Cup finals – said the inter-generational divide in the Senegalese community was not solely evidenced in the team they support on Sunday.

“The young have a new way of living but the older generation have maybe stuck to their roots. They have memories of back home, family – and the young have never experienced life there.”

With the temperature struggling to reach 7C on Friday afternoon, Ngassi predictably said that the weather was what he most missed about west Africa.

“Also the food, so full of vitamins, the warmth of the people,” said Ngassi.

And what if Senegal get knocked out? “That’s easy. We’ll all support England.”

‘Senegal is the best’: Dakar’s dreaming of World Cup upset | Senegal

Just under 4,500 miles (7,200km) away from the shiny stadiums in Qatar, a man named Serigne Fallou confidently proclaims that he already knows what the result will be on Sunday when England take on Senegal in the World Cup’s round of 16.

“Absolutely, Senegal will win, 1-0,” says Fallou, an apartment doorman in Dakar, Senegal’s bustling capital on the Atlantic Ocean. “I don’t have a doubt.”

People watching a World Cup match at a restaurant on the Dakar coastline. Photograph: Guy Peterson

There’s a buzz in the air in the small west African country, whose Lions of Teranga have been on a hot streak of late. Players such as Sadio Mané, recently traded from Liverpool to Bayern Munich, Kalidou Koulibaly, of Chelsea, and Everton’s Idrissa Gana Gueye star in the European leagues. They bested Mo Salah’s Egypt to win the Africa Cup of Nations this year, sparking multi-day street parties in Dakar that delayed the arrival of the winners – and their trophy – from the airport as they crawled through seven hours of crowd-induced traffic welcoming them home.

A football match on a sand pitch in the northern Dakar neighbourhood of N’gor. Photograph: Guy Peterson

And now, the Senegalese are ready to win what would be their first World Cup.

Street sellers in the capital, thronging with millions of residents, have traded – or added to – their usual stocks of kitchenware, phone chargers or tourist tchotchkes for Senegalese flags, wristbands, headbands and shirts. Jerseys of varying legality go for 5,000 to 15,000 CFA francs (£6.50 to £19.50), with children often running around the street decked out head to toe in full kits before games.

Ablaye Diaby putting up a flag beneath dozens of football shirts on a wall across from his small shop in Dakar. Photograph: Guy Peterson

“They will win. The Senegalese team is the champion of Africa,” says Ousseynou Thioune, who is selling a variety of jerseys and wristbands on a busy boulevard. He bumps up Fallou’s prediction, to 2-0.

“They’re still the Lions, even without Sadio,” Thioune says, referencing the star forward Mané, who was injured in a Bayern game just before the World Cup began.

A woman buying a Senegal football shirt from Ousseynou Thioune (middle left). Photograph: Guy Peterson

When it was announced that the Ballon d’Or runner-up would have to sit out, drama and consternation among the football- and Mané-crazed populace ensued. In the aftermath, one man told France24 that “I cried when I saw” the news.

“With my friends, we were talking about it. There were some who had bought a television [to watch the World Cup] – and they sold it back,” he said.

People set up small goals to play football on a concrete pitch in a residential area of Dakar. Photograph: Guy Peterson

Yet the Lions have more than persevered. Their opening game against Netherlands, resulting in a 2-0 loss, was quickly pushed aside with 3-1 and 2-1 wins over Qatar and Ecuador, respectively.

A young boy looks over a football stadium pitch in a residantial area of Dakar. — A young boy looks over a football stadium pitch in a residential area of Dakar. Photograph: Guy Peterson

“This year, this World Cup, I hope the Africans are going to the final. An African team must qualify. And Senegal is the best,” Thioune says. Along with Senegal, Morocco have also advanced out of the group stage, with Cameroon and Ghana still in with a chance of qualification too going into their final group matches on Friday.

“Football helps people forget about unemployment, it helps people forget about their problems,” Thioune continues. “When there’s football, everybody is talking about football. You’re forced to forget your problems – even the politicians, even the president.”

A Senegalese football fan celebrates during a world cup match at a local sports bar in Dakar. — A Senegalese football fan celebrates during a World Cup match at a local sports bar in Dakar. Photograph: Guy Peterson

In Senegal, the national sport is laamb, a Sumo-like form of traditional wrestling. But like so many other places across the world, football is still the great, globalising equaliser, played everywhere from the country’s pockmarked sandlots to its grand stadiums. When Mané played for Liverpool, it was easy to find television sets and smartphones tuned into the Reds everywhere from Dakar to the smallest villages in Senegal’s rural hinterlands.

“We have [star] players like the English. They play in English championships,” says Ke Ba, a restaurateur who serves up plates of fish, rice, and vegetables – the national dish, thieboudienne – from his small, one-room restaurant. Despite wearing a Manchester jersey, he has no love for the English national team.

“We believe we will win,” he says. “It’s the World Cup – you have to beat the big teams.”

Still, some are hedging their bets.

Djibril serves a customer a breakfast sandwich standing in his corner shop decked out with Senegalese flags and scarves across the shelves. Photograph: Guy Peterson

“No,” says Djibril Diallo, insisting he’s not nervous, per se. But “England – it’s not a small team,” adds the corner store owner, whose shop is dressed up with a Senegalese scarf hanging across a wall of foodstuffs.

“Senegal also, it’s not a small team,” he says. “This match is a bit complicated. Two equals are playing. Two teams, equal. In any case, we’ll pray to God.”

Boys play football on N’Gor beach in Dakar. For many who don’t go to school they spend their days with friends playing the game on the street or on the many beachs around Dakar. — Boys play football on N’Gor beach in Dakar. For many who don’t go to school they spend their days with friends playing the game on the street or on the many beaches around Dakar. Photograph: Guy Peterson

On a nearby beach, young children and adults alike play pick-up games along the shoreline. Even in a worst-case scenario, they’ll be there again on Monday, same as ever, the next generation of Manés, Koulibalys, and Gueyes among them.