On Sunday, May 21, 2023, at the La Plata Stadium, Senegal, the winner of the 2023 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, fell to Japan by a score of one goal.
Senegal was one of four African nations to compete in the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was held in Argentina, along with Gambia, Nigeria, and Tunisia.
Senegal, competing in their second FIFA U-20 World Cup, was defeated on the first day of the tournament for the second time, joining a 3-0 defeat to Portugal in New Zealand in 2015.
Japan won all three points from their opening FIFA U-20 World Cup match against Senegal at La Plata Stadium thanks to a skillfully executed Kuryu Matsuki goal from the edge of the area.
When he glanced a header wide of the far post in the opening minutes, Matsuki came dangerously close to starting the scoring. After a quarter of an hour, he quickly atoned for that error when he drilled a left-footed attempt from 25 yards into the bottom-right corner.
Senegal, however, didn’t take that blow lying down and quickly responded when Souleymane Faye played captain Samba Diallo through to score. However, replays revealed that Faye was offside, and the goal was correctly ruled out.
Taranga’s Young Lions continued to press in the second half but were unable to trouble Japan goalkeeper Ryoya Kimura, as their Asian counterparts won the game.
Senegal and Japan return to Group C action on Wednesday, taking on Israel and Colombia, respectively.
