Press releases - 2026 June 08
The Presidential Palace hosted this Monday, June 8, our national U17 and U15 teams, both African champions.
In April, in Harare, the school football cadets secured, undefeated, the very first continental title in Senegal’s history in this competition. In June, in Rabat, the U17s won a second continental crown, following a journey in which character made the difference at every decisive moment.
In front of these young champions, their families, and their coaching staff, the President of the Republic reminded them that these successes are due as much to talent as to inner strength, and that they are rooted in the patient work of educators, teachers, and the Senegalese Football Federation. He encouraged these teenagers to stay grounded, to pursue their studies seriously, and to carry the national colours everywhere with dignity, in victory as well as in hardship.
At a time when the Lions are completing their preparation on American soil for the World Cup, and as Dakar prepares to host the first Youth Olympic Games ever organized in Africa, Senegal is experiencing an unprecedented sporting year, driven by a youth that continues to honour the nation.
Full speech of the President of the Republic
Presidential Palace, Monday, June 8, 2026 — Only the spoken word is authentic
Mr Prime Minister,
Madam Minister of Youth and Sports,
Mr Minister of National Education,
Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen members of the Senegalese Football Federation,
Ladies and Gentlemen members of the technical and administrative staff of the U17 and U15 teams,
Dear African champions,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Over the years, the Presidential Palace has welcomed heads of state, scholars, and industrial leaders. Rarely have its halls hosted guests so young with such great achievements. Teenagers who, twice in two months, have raised the Senegalese flag to the top of Africa. Welcome home. This house is yours, because it belongs to the Nation, and the Nation, in recent weeks, has vibrated to the rhythm of your exploits.
In April, in Harare, you, dear school-level cadets engaged in both academic and football training, went through the CAF African School Championship without a single defeat and brought Senegal its first-ever title in this competition. You did so as schoolchildren, and I insist on that word. Your trophy shows that in Senegal, the path to sporting excellence passes through the classroom, and that the Republic’s school system is capable of shaping both minds and sporting talent.
Dear children, I strongly emphasize this dual education. At your age, no one can guarantee a brilliant football career; however, education remains a certainty, a foundation for life. It is up to you, young footballers, to find the right balance between studies, training, and competition, and to make academic discipline the ally of your sporting ambition.
It is also up to you, dear leaders, agents, teachers, and parents, to consistently ensure this balance, to organize schedules, to protect class hours, homework, and discipline. Football must never become a path away from schooling; it must be an accelerator of learning, a school of character serving the future. I count on you to safeguard this balance so that every success on the field is matched by progress in the classroom, and so that tomorrow our champions are also educated, responsible, and exemplary citizens.
Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me now to address our valiant U17s, for whom the FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar 2026 lies ahead.
Earlier this month, in Rabat, Morocco, you won a second continental crown after a journey that football fans will remember for a long time. Beaten in your opening match, you did not doubt yourselves: you lifted your heads, corrected your mistakes, and tightened your ranks. Match after match, you imposed your character, courage, discipline, and solidarity to climb every step leading to the title, right up to the most merciless test of all: penalty shootouts. Three times in a row, at the moment when everything is decided from eleven metres, in the suspended silence of a stadium, you kept steady hands, accurate feet, and calm hearts.
Two titles, two finals won on penalties. I pause on this coincidence, because it is not one. Talent wins matches. Character wins titles. What your two generations have shown Africa is less virtuosity than strength of spirit—this composure that cannot be improvised, that is built through daily effort, through listening to educators, respecting rules, and respecting opponents. That is the true lesson of your triumphs, and it goes far beyond football fields.
That is why I want to associate with this tribute all those whose patient work made these victories possible. The technical staff who believed in these children before Africa celebrated them. The teachers and school administrators who balanced academic demands with competition. The families who are the first academies of every success. National and international private initiatives that are building football academies across Senegal in partnership with renowned international clubs and making sports-study programs the core of their mission. The Senegalese Football Federation, whose training policy is bearing fruits the entire continent envies us for. The State will continue to support this momentum, because the National Transformation Agenda Senegal 2050 places youth and sport at the heart of the country’s transformation. Sport is not a peripheral entertainment for us; it is a school of sovereignty, a future industry, a language through which Senegal speaks to the world.
Dear champions, allow me now to speak to you as a father speaks to his sons.
You are fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years old, and already Africa knows your names. This is a tremendous honour—but also a test, perhaps more difficult than a penalty shootout. Early glory has destroyed more talent than all defeats combined. So keep your heads cool, as you did in Harare and Rabat. Continue your studies with the same seriousness as your training. Listen to those who have guided you this far. For the U17s, some of whom are no longer in school, I ask your parents, clubs, and the Federation to join efforts to help you return to education or pursue vocational training, while continuing your football ambitions.
And remember this, which applies both to sport and to life: a champion is recognized as much by how they win as by their trophies. True victory is modest. It greets the opponent, honours its hosts, and carries triumph with the same dignity as defeat. Wherever you go, on every pitch in the world, each of your actions will speak on behalf of Senegal. Make sure that language is always one of elegance, gratitude, and respect. That is how great sporting nations are measured, and that is how I want ours to be recognized.
Because your story is only just beginning. In November, our U17s will defend Senegal’s colours at the World Cup in Qatar. In a few weeks, Dakar will host the Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic Games ever organized on African soil. Our country is living through an unprecedented sporting year. You are its first builders.
Dear champions, at the time I am speaking to you, your elders—the Lions, whom I handed the national flag in this very hall—are already on American soil, completing their preparation for the World Cup. The timing of events means that the younger ones have preceded the elders on the path to glory. I see this as a fortunate sign. You have shown them that a match is never lost until the final second, and that in moments of truth, the Senegalese heart does not tremble. In a few days, the whole world will be watching them. I know they will play inspired by your example as much as by the support of an entire nation. Through all of you, it is one and the same Senegalese football family that moves forward, generation after generation, towards the highest ambitions.
Children of Senegal, you have made our flag fly at the top of Africa. You have made our neighbourhoods, villages, and schools sing. You have reminded us that this country, thanks to its youth, knows no unreachable summit.
On behalf of the grateful Nation, I say thank you. I say well done. And above all, I say: keep going.
Long live Senegalese football,
Long live Senegalese sport,
Long live the youth of Senegal,
Long live the Republic,
Long live Senegal.