MATCH FACTS: West African derby as Senegal face Ghana at TotalEnergies CAF U20 AFCON

Defending champions Senegal face fellow West African rivals Ghana in what will be only their second-ever meeting at the TotalEnergies CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations at Suez Stadium on Monday (kick-off 21:00 local time; 18:00 GMT).

Their previous encounter came during the 2019 edition, where Senegal secured a 2-0 victory in the group stage thanks to a first-half brace from Youssouph Badji.

Ghana have only once before faced defending champions at the tournament, beating Egypt in the 1993 semi-finals.

Senegal have a strong record against fellow WAFU (West African) teams, having played 12 matches with a record of eight wins, two draws, and two losses. Both defeats came against Nigeria in 2015 – once in the group stage (3-1) and again in the final (1-0).

They are unbeaten in open play in their last eight matches against West African opposition, with seven wins and one draw – the latter a penalty shootout loss to Mali in the 2019 final.

Ghana, meanwhile, have faced West African rivals 26 times, recording 11 wins, three draws, and 12 losses.

Their recent form against WAFU teams has been less consistent, with just one win in their last four such matches – a semi-final victory over Gambia in 2021. They lost the other three.

SENEGAL FACTS
·      Senegal began their title defence with a 1-1 draw against the Central African Republic. It marked the fourth time they have drawn their opening match at the finals, having also done so in 1993, 1995, and 2017.

·      Their record in second group matches is strong: six played, three wins, two draws, and just one loss – back in 1993, when they were beaten 3-1 by Ethiopia. Since then, they are unbeaten in second group matches across five tournaments. They drew with Burundi (1-1) in 1995 and Côte d’Ivoire (2-2) in 2015, and have won their last three second group games: 4-3 against South Africa in 2017, 2-0 against Ghana in 2019, and 3-0 against Mozambique in 2023. Notably, they have scored in every second group game they’ve played.

·      A failure to win this match would mark the fourth time Senegal have gone winless in their first two group games. Previous instances occurred in 1993, 1995, and 2015.

·      Senegal are unbeaten in their last 12 group stage matches (W9 D3), with their most recent group-stage defeat being a 3-1 loss to Nigeria in 2015.

·      They have also scored in each of their last 15 group games – their last goalless group game was a 0-0 draw with Cameroon in 1995.

·      Across all finals matches, Senegal are unbeaten in open play in their last 13 games (W11 D2). Their last defeat in regulation time was in the 2017 final against Zambia.

·      In their draw with CAR, Ousmane Konate had the most touches (90) and completed the most passes (60) of any player on the pitch. Falliou Diouf was fouled six times, more than any other player in the game.

GHANA FACTS
·      Ghana opened their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo. After conceding in the 16th minute, Musibau Aziz equalized in the 24th.

·      This draw ended a run of three consecutive tournament openers that Ghana had won - in 2015, 2019, and 2021.

·      They have now won just one of their last six group matches at the finals – a 4-0 victory over Tanzania in their 2021 opener (D2 L3). Additionally, Ghana have failed to win their last three group matches against West African sides: a 2-1 loss to Gambia in 2021, and back-to-back defeats in 2019 to Senegal (2-0) and Mali (1-0).

·      Historically, Ghana have fared well in their second group matches in the modern tournament format (since 1991), with a record of seven wins, three draws, and two losses in 12 such games. However, they have failed to win their second game at each of their last two tournament appearances – drawing 0-0 with Morocco in 2021 and losing 2-0 to Senegal in 2019.

·      Ghana’s biggest second group game win remains their 5-0 triumph over Angola in 1999. Their only defeats in second group matches came in 1993 (vs Cameroon) and 2019 (vs Senegal).

·      A failure to win here would mark the first time since 2011 that Ghana have failed to register a victory in their first two group games. In that year, they lost 2-1 to Nigeria before drawing 1-1 with Gambia. In every subsequent tournament – 2013, 2015, 2019, and 2021 – they have won at least one of their opening two matches.

·      Against DRC, Ghana managed only two shots on target – both by goal scorer Aziz. Aaron Essel attempted 73 passes and completed 57 (78.1% accuracy), leading the team in both categories.