The Lions captain, Kalidou Koulibaly, ambassador for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games, is relishing seeing Senegal become the first African host country, on the eve of Senegal-Sudan.
Senegal are having a busy week. This Thursday, 12 November at 19:00 GMT, the Lions host Sudan at the Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium in the CAN 2027 qualifiers. At the same time, the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games are being held from 31 October to 13 November, and Senegal is the first African country to stage them.
At the heart of this schedule is Kalidou Koulibaly. The Senegal national team captain is an ambassador for the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics, as reported by Olympics.com, and he makes no secret of his pride. “Having the Olympic Games here in Senegal is something incredible, especially being the first African country to organise them. So for me, it was a source of pride,” he told Enquête Plus.
A pride shared with the delegation
Involved on the Olympic front as well as in the CAN, the defender took advantage of the Lions’ gathering in Diamniadio to visit the Dakar 2026 Olympic Village. There he accompanied Mory Diaw, the Senegal international goalkeeper, and Malang Sarr, the Senegal international defender, to meet the Senegalese delegation, Enquête Plus reports.
In his exclusive interview with Olympics.com, Koulibaly stresses the historic significance of these Games for Africa and for the next generation.
Beach wrestling on the plane
The ambassador experienced the event from the inside, even on the plane taking him to Senegal. There he followed Maguette Diop’s triumph in beach wrestling in the under-80 kg category, in Saly, as well as Élisabeth Diatta’s title in the under-55 kg category, according to Olympics.com.
“I watched him on the plane. I’m very proud of what he has achieved and to see that [beach] wrestling has its place at the Games, because people had been asking for that for a long time,” he told Olympics.com. The captain thus welcomes the place given to beach wrestling in the programme.
Now for Sudan, eight years on
The schedule allows no respite: Patrick Vieira, the Senegal head coach, has selected Koulibaly for the two CAN 2027 qualifying matches against Sudan, scheduled for 12 and 16 November, according to Olympics.com. The first is played on Thursday at 19:00 GMT in Dakar, at the Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium, which the Lions return to after eight years away, according to Foot-Africa.
The Youth Olympics themselves end on 13 November, the day after that first match. The second meeting with Sudan is scheduled for 16 November, three days after the closing of the Games.