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How to watch Senegal vs Sudan
Senegal vs Sudan kicks off at 2 p.m. ET, which is 11 a.m. PT and 7 p.m. local time in Dakar. Senegal stays on GMT all year, so the gap with the East Coast is five hours in November. In Khartoum, kickoff is at 9 p.m.
ESPN's game page did not list a U.S. broadcaster for this qualifier on Thursday afternoon. In Senegal, the game is slated to air free-to-air on RTS 1, the public broadcaster, and in France it is scheduled on beIN Sports.
Wherever you are, you can follow every moment right here. We'll post the official lineups as soon as both teams release them, then track goals, cards, substitutions and the key numbers from Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor through the final whistle and beyond.
By the numbers: Senegal vs Sudan
Oddsmakers see this one as lopsided. DraftKings, via ESPN, lists Senegal at -1200 and Sudan at +2000, with Senegal giving 2.5 goals on the spread and the total set at 3.5.
The qualifying numbers are tighter than that suggests. Senegal have scored only twice in two games and conceded once. Sudan have also scored twice but allowed four, all of them in Maputo. Yehvann Diouf has needed just two saves in 180 minutes for the Lions.
On the Sudan side, center back Mustafa Karshoum leads the team with 34 completed passes in qualifying, ahead of Ammar Taifour with 30 and Sheddy Barglan with 25. Aamir Abdallah, the scorer in Tangier, leads them with two shots. Senegal's leading passer, Niakhaté, has nearly four times as many completions as Karshoum.
What a win would do in the group
The group is four teams deep and tightly packed after two rounds. Senegal and Mozambique have 4 points each, Sudan 3 and Ethiopia none. Mozambique hold the best goal difference at plus-3, two better than Senegal, thanks to that 4-1 win over Sudan.
A Senegal win would push them to 7 points and open a four-point cushion on Sudan heading into the return game, which the Sudanese will host. A draw would keep both teams within a point of each other.
The flip side is what makes this interesting. A Sudan win in Dakar would vault them past Senegal to 6 points, a result that would put real pressure on Vieira only a few months into the job. For a federation that expects to contend for continental titles, dropping points at home this early would not go over well.
Five meetings, no Sudan wins
ESPN's head-to-head log shows Senegal unbeaten in the last five meetings with Sudan, with two wins and three draws. The sides were also paired in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, playing to a 0-0 draw on March 22, 2025, at Martyrs of February Stadium in Benina, Libya.
The rematch on September 5, 2025, went Senegal's way, 2-0 at Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio. Kalidou Koulibaly headed in the opener in the 14th minute and Pape Matar Sarr made it two in the 41st. In between, in August 2025, the teams drew twice more, 0-0 and 1-1.
The pattern is clear enough. Sudan have been hard to break down, and three of those five games ended level, but the Tangier match was the only one in which they held a lead.
Pape Gueye's night in Tangier
The last competitive meeting came on January 3, 2026, in the Round of 16 at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. The venue was Ibn Batouta Stadium in Tangier, Morocco, and Sudan stunned Senegal early when Aamir Abdallah curled a left-footed shot into the top corner in the 6th minute, set up by Walieldin Khdir.
Then Pape Gueye took over. The midfielder equalized from outside the box in the 29th minute and put Senegal ahead in first-half stoppage time with another left-footed finish. Mbaye sealed the 3-1 win on a counterattack in the 77th minute, with Mané providing the assist on both the opener and the third goal.
Sudan had reached that stage by beating Equatorial Guinea 1-0 before a 2-0 loss to Burkina Faso. Gueye and Mbaye both started Senegal's most recent qualifier, in Ethiopia.
Sudan's very different September
Sudan played their home qualifier in Juba, South Sudan, and beat Ethiopia 1-0 at Juba National Stadium on September 25. The trip to Maputo four days later went badly. Mozambique won 4-1, with Chamito Alfândega scoring twice and Witi and Guima adding the others.
Yasin Hamed's 88th-minute penalty was the only consolation. The result left Sudan third in the group with 3 points and a minus-2 goal difference, while Ethiopia are still without a point.
Head coach Kwesi Appiah, the Ghanaian who has led the national team, built his squad mostly around domestic powers Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, with a handful of players based abroad. In Maputo he started a 4-2-3-1 with Mohamed Eisa up top and Aamir Abdallah and Musa Hussien behind him.
Jackson and Mbaye carried September
Senegal's September results both came on the road, and both were tight. On September 25 at Estádio do Zimpeto in Maputo, Nicolas Jackson scored in the 32nd minute before Geny Catamo equalized for Mozambique in first-half stoppage time. Four days later at Bahir Dar Stadium, Ibrahim Mbaye struck in the 11th minute and Senegal held on to beat Ethiopia 1-0.
ESPN's numbers for those two games show Jackson with a goal and an assist. Abdallah Sima also set up a goal and led the team with five shots, ahead of Jackson with four and Pape Matar Sarr with three.
The build-up runs through the back line. Niakhaté completed 127 passes, Sadibou Sané 123 and Lamine Camara 122. Senegal then closed the window with a 1-0 friendly win at Comoros on October 4.
The World Cup exit still stings
American fans saw plenty of this Senegal team in June. The Lions lost 3-1 to France and 3-2 to Norway, both at MetLife Stadium, before routing Iraq 5-0 at BMO Field in Toronto to reach the Round of 32.
On July 1 at Lumen Field in Seattle, in front of 66,925 fans, they looked set for the next round. Habib Diarra scored in the 24th minute and Ismaïla Sarr doubled the lead in the 51st off a through ball from Moussa Niakhaté. Belgium answered late, with Romelu Lukaku in the 86th and Youri Tielemans in the 89th, and Tielemans won it from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of stoppage time at the end of extra time.
That 3-2 loss closed a cycle. Thiaw left, Vieira arrived, and the September window became the first look at what comes next.
Vieira's squad has a new look
Patrick Vieira replaced Pape Thiaw after the World Cup, and the Frenchman has inherited a roster in transition. ESPN reported that goalkeeper Édouard Mendy and defender Ismail Jakobs both retired from international soccer after the tournament.
Two more veterans are missing this week. Vieira explained the absences after naming his squad: "As the coach, I have choices to make, but that doesn't call into question Idrissa's future selection." On Sadio Mané, he added: "I spoke to Sadio on the phone and he received the call-up, but he wanted to stay home because he's expecting a baby."
That leaves room for newcomers. Pathé Mboup, Pape Demba Diop and Paul Mendy are among the uncapped players in camp, while ESPN singled out Saudi-based defensive midfielder Dion Lopy as the player with the most to gain from Idrissa Gana Gueye's absence.
Senegal finally plays a home qualifier
Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of Senegal vs Sudan in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Kickoff at Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor in Dakar is set for 2 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. PT, and we'll stay with you from the buildup through the final whistle.
This is Matchday 3 of the group stage, and it is the first time Senegal has played at home in this campaign. The Lions of Teranga opened with two road games in September, drawing 1-1 in Mozambique and winning 1-0 in Ethiopia, and sit on 4 points, level with Mozambique at the top.
Sudan arrive one point back with 3. The AFCON finals in 2027 will be staged in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and tonight opens a two-game set against the Sudanese that shapes the race for the top of this group.
Tonight's venue carries the name of Léopold Sédar Senghor, the poet who became Senegal's first president after independence. The stadium sits in Dakar itself, while Senegal's last home game against Sudan, in September 2025, was played at Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade in Diamniadio, outside the capital.
It is also Vieira's first competitive game in charge on home soil. The two September qualifiers were in Maputo and Bahir Dar, and the October friendly was in Comoros.
Sudan, meanwhile, have become used to playing away from their own supporters. Their designated home ground in this campaign is in Juba, South Sudan, where they beat Ethiopia in September.