Patrick Vieira sets Senegal on course in AFCON 2027 qualifiers

Patrick Vieira believes Senegal have begun to establish the foundations needed to compete after two matches in charge. The Franco-Senegalese coach made the assessment before the Lions’ international friendly against Comoros at Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome on Sunday. The match will be played at 13:00 and will be Senegal’s first appearance at the stadium.

Vieira took over in mid-September and began his tenure with two away matches in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Senegal drew 1-1 with Mozambique before beating Ethiopia 1-0. The results gave the Lions four points from their opening two outings, a return Vieira described as very positive given the difficulty of both matches.

The new coach has focused on more than the results. He said his first task was to identify the areas that needed improvement and to assess the players’ mentality, including their desire to represent the national team. The opening fixtures therefore served as an early test of both Senegal’s competitive level and the standards Vieira expects from the group.

The win over Ethiopia followed the draw with Mozambique, but the two performances also exposed work still to be done. Vieira said Senegal had shown positive elements in both matches while making clear that the team needed to improve collectively. The coach is using the early fixtures to establish how the players work together and which areas require further attention.

The four points have given Senegal a strong start on the numbers available from the first two qualifying rounds. The campaign has produced one victory, one draw, two goals scored and one conceded. Senegal have also collected points in both away matches, although Vieira stressed that there are no easy games at international level and that results can be decided by small details.

The Comoros fixture offers a different setting and purpose. It is a friendly rather than a qualifier, but Vieira considers it important for himself and his staff because it will provide another opportunity to learn from the team’s development. The match is also the first meeting between Senegal and Comoros, adding a new opponent to the coach’s early assessment of the squad.

Vieira intends to use the game to give playing time to members of the squad who have not yet appeared under him. That could broaden his understanding of the available options after the first two matches were used to begin shaping the team. The friendly will therefore be part of the same process as the qualifiers, with selection, collective organisation and player response all under review.

The match will also take place in a major European stadium, a setting Vieira described as significant for the players. For Senegal, the immediate objective is not a qualifying result but continued progress before the next competitive demands of the AFCON 2027 campaign. Vieira’s early verdict is that the group has made a solid start, while the unbeaten opening and the remaining areas for improvement point to a team still being built.