England v Senegal
International fixture
The City Ground
7.45pm BST, Tuesday 10 June 2025

Thomas Tuchel and Bukayo Saka faced the press on Monday morning ahead of England’s international match-up against Senegal at the City Ground.

Here is what they had to say.

Tuchel on the Andorra performance:

We as a team simply didn’t match our own standards and like I said, I didn’t like the last ten minutes because I felt at the sidelines that we didn’t play serious enough to win it in the end and what we needed to do in a World Cup qualifier.

We can handle criticism and I strongly believe that a group of football players can speak honestly to each other. I always include myself – it’s always a ‘we’ message that we try to give.

Everybody wanted to be there and everybody wanted to be involved and everybody wanted to start and they wanted to play this game. We take our analysts from this and try to do better.

On how the team have been training:

The attitude towards training, the attitude in camp and the commitment of the players was outstanding. What we did yesterday was excellent in performance and excellent attitude in training.

We watched tennis together and we watched football together. We’re ready to go again on Tuesday and we’re ready to have a good training session.

On the possibility of Ivan Toney featuring against Senegal:

First of all, it was most important that we get to know him as a personality and how he interacts with the group and what he can show us in training which is pretty clear what he can do.

He’s a goal scorer, he’s a player that loves to play in and around the opponent’s box and preferably, in the box with one or two touches to finish the attacks off.

Let’s see what the game brings, let’s see what the demands are but has every chance to play like everyone else. We have one more training session and he did very well with the others yesterday and we have all the options.

We're live from St. George's Park where Thomas Tuchel – followed by Bukayo Saka – will speak ahead of tomorrow's game against Senegal! 🎙️ https://t.co/1PT2M91Vqj

— England (@England) June 9, 2025

Saka on Arsenal and England team-mate Myles Lewis-Skelly:

I can only say positive things about Myles. I know him, I’ve seen his journey as he’s come through. He’s a top talent with a good mentality and lots of confidence and that’s why I believe he can come here and play the way he does.

Big credit to him. I hope he keeps progressing and keep improving and it’s exciting to see what the future holds for him.

On what it means to him to represent England:

I think it’s one of the biggest honours in football, putting on that England shirt in the friendlies, in the qualifiers and in the tournaments. It’s a special feeling and I look forward to it every time.

On his personal development:

I think there’s a lot more potential wise from my side. I think each year, I’ve developed and improved. I think I’ve still got a bit of a way to go as well. I’m in the right way and I just feel like I need to keep working hard.

With all the games I’m playing, all the experiences, the tournaments and stuff like that, it’s only going to make me better when I’m learning from it.

On the disappointment last time out:

On the Andorra performance, we know could’ve scored a few more goals but I think sometimes, in those games, if you don’t score five, you get frowned upon. But sometimes those games are tougher than they look.

We’re just happy at the end of the day that we got the job done – three points, clean sheet – and tomorrow night, we’ll be looking to do the same.

Head to head

England 3-0 Senegal, FIFA World Cup 2022 (Round of 16), 4 December 2022

The Three Lions' only previous encounter with Senegal came on the biggest stage of all at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar as England advanced to the last eight of the tournament.

Goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka saw Gareth Southgate's side run out 3-0 winners in Doha to set up a quarter-final clash with France. 

England Squad News

Ticket Information

Ticket details for this game have now been released. Find out how and when you can purchase tickets below.

England Supporters Travel Club pre-sale: 19 - 26 March 2025

My England Football priority access: 27 - 30 March 2025

General sale: 31 March 2025

 

How to watch or stream

Thomas Tuchel has named his team to take on Senegal in an international match-up at the City Ground.

The Three Lions head coach has made ten changes in total from the side that beat Andorra last time out.

England: 13 Dean Henderson, 2 Kyle Walker, 4 Declan Rice, 6 Levi Colwill, 9 Harry Kane, 11 Anthony Gordon, 15 Eberechi Eze, 21 Myles Lewis-Skelly, 23 Trevoh Chalobah, 24 Conor Gallagher, 25 Bukayo Saka

Substitutes: 1 Jordan Pickford, 3 Reece James, 5 Ezri Konsa, 7 Morgan Gibbs-White, 8 Jordan Henderson, 10 Jude Bellingham, 12 Dan Burn, 14 Ivan Toney, 16 Trent Alexander-Arnold, 17 Curtis Jones, 18 Morgan Rogers, 19 Noni Madueke, 20 Cole Palmer, 22 James Trafford

Thomas Tuchel fell to his first loss as England head coach, as his team were downed 3-1 by Senegal at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.

England captain Harry Kane had put the home side ahead early in the first half, instinctively finishing after Édouard Mendy spilled Anthony Gordon’s shot.

But strikes from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly turned the game on its head to see the African side claim an impressive win and seal England's first defeat to an African nation.

Senegal had the first effort on goal in the second minute of the match, but Idrissa Gana Gueye’s effort was easily dealt with by Dean Henderson, who then kept out Nicolas Jackson’s low drive with a smart save courtesy of his left boot three minutes later.

However, despite the early signs shown by the visitors, it was England who took the lead after seven minutes.

Eberechi Eze did well to dispossess Lamine Camara close to the edge of the Senegalese penalty area, before Gordon’s effort from inside the box was saved by Mendy.

But the 33 year old couldn’t stop the ball from rebounding into the path of Kane, who made no mistake from close range to bag his 73rd goal in the colours of his national team.

Pape Thiaw’s side responded through Sarr’s header, but his Crystal Palace teammate Henderson was up to the mark and kept it out with a diving stop after El Hadji Malick Diouf’s cross created the chance.

The hosts pressed for a second and almost had it through Gordon just before the half-hour mark.

But the Newcastle United forward couldn’t quite find the contact he was looking for at the back post to turn in Kyle Walker’s fizzing low cross from the right, with Kreptin Diatta doing just enough to put the England man off.

Henderson again denied Gana Gueye during the final ten minutes of the half, but Senegal were level just before the break as Sarr powered the ball home from seven yards out after Jackson did well to pull the ball back from the right.

England fell behind on 62 minutes when Diarra latched onto Kalidou Koulibaly’s hopeful ball forward and neatly finished on the angle after cutting inside from the right.

At the other end, substitute Morgan Gibbs-White, playing on his club ground, made an impact when coming on, lashing a fierce shot at Mendy following Eze’s skilful flick-on, before setting up Bukayo Saka who was also kept out by a great save from the Senegalese goalkeeper.

England thought they had an equaliser late on when Jude Bellingham stabbed home from Noni Madueke’s corner, but Levi Colwill was penalised for handball in the build-up and the goal was subsequently disallowed.

And Senegal added their third late on, when Madueke's free-kick was cleared to set up a counter attack. Curtis Jones was out-crowded on the halfway line before Sabaly was set up by Lamine Camara for a neat finish to round off the scoring..

England will now kick-off the 2025-26 season when they host Andorra on 6 September at Villa Park.

England: 13 Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 4 Declan Rice (Arsenal), 6 Levi Colwill (Chelsea), 9 Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), 11 Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), 15 Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), 21 Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), 23 Trevoh Chalobah (Chelsea), 24 Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid), 25 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Substitutes: 7 Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) for Gordon 59’, 17 Curtis Jones (Liverpool) for Gallagher 59’, 18 Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) for Kane 59’, 10 Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) for Rice 71’, 19 Noni Madueke (Chelsea) for Saka 71’, 14 Ivan Toney (Al Ahli) for Lewis-Skelly 88’

Substitutes not used: 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton), 3 Reece James (Chelsea), 5 Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), 8 Jordan Henderson (Ajax), 12 Dan Burn (Newcastle United), 16 Trent Alexander-Arnold (Real Madrid),19 Noni Madueke (Chelsea), 20 Cole Palmer (Chelsea) 22 James Trafford (Burnley)

Head Coach: Thomas Tuchel

Goal: Harry Kane 7’

Senegal: 16 Édouard Mendy, 3 Kalidou Koulibaly, 5 Idrissa Gana Gueye, 6 Habib Diarra, 7 Nicolas Jackson, 8 Lamine Camara, 13 Iliman Ndiaye, 15 Kreptin Diatta, 18 Ismaila Sarr, 19 Moussa Niakhaté, 25 El Hadji Malick Diouf

Substitutes: 10 Cheikh Sabaly for Sarr 70’, 26 Pape Gueye for Diarra 70’, 9 Boulaye Dia for Jackson 81’,

Substitutes not used: 1 Yehvann Diouf, 2 Mamadou Camara, 4 Abdoulaye Seck, 12 Cherif Ndiaye, 14 Ismail Jakobs, 17 Cheikh Niasse, 20 Idrissa Gueye, 21 Abdallah Sima, 23 Mory Diaw, 24 Antoine Mendy

Head Coach: Pape Thiaw

Goals: Ismaila Sarr 40’, Habib Diarra 62’, Cheikh Sabaly 93’,