The Ivorians, who return to the World Cup finals for the first time since 2014, went through the entire 10-game group campaign without conceding a goal, one of two nations on the continent to do so alongside Tunisia.
Ivory Coast and Senegal join Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde and South Africa in booking their ticket to next year’s World Cup finals.
One more side – the winners of next month’s continental play-offs – could join that group if they emerge from an inter-confederation tournament in March next year.
Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria finished as the four best-ranked second-placed sides across the nine groups and one of those sides will have the chance to become Africa’s 10th representative at the expanded 48-team World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The Confederation of African Football is yet to announce a date for the play-off draw.
At the 80th UNGA, Senegal President Bassirou Diomaye Faye condemned the war in Gaza, calling it a “humanitarian catastrophe” and urging immediate global action. He demanded justice for Palestinians and fairer governance that respects sovereignty worldwide.
Tens of thousands of people have marched through Australia’s major cities and towns, organiers said, demanding action to save dying and starving Palestinians.
More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, the group Palestine Action said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
“We demand from our politicians more than just talk. We are long past this,” Remah Naji, one of the organisers of the protest in the eastern city of Brisbane, told Al Jazeera.
“Now, we demand actions in the same way we acted in times of genocide. We are signatories to the Genocide Convention, which means that we have an obligation to prevent and punish genocide when it occurs.”
Protests denouncing Israel’s war and starvation campaign were also held in several other countries on Sunday.
In Australia, where people rallied in cities of all sizes nationwide, protesters urged sanctions against Israel and an end to arms trade with the country, which has been accused of carrying out a genocide by leading rights groups.
Organisers estimate more than 300,000 people participated in the demonstrations.
In Sydney, organiser Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to “demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel” as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted “free, free Palestine”.
Demonstrators take part in a pro-Palestinian rally against Israel’s assault and famine in the Gaza Strip, in Melbourne, Australia [William West/AFP]
In Melbourne, protesters congregated outside the State Library Victoria, chanting “sanction Israel now”.
Organiser Nour Salman said Australia’s plans to recognise Palestinian statehood must be accompanied by tougher sanctions on Israel.
“Enough is enough. There is no ifs, buts or maybes,” Salman said.
Thousands also gathered in the southwestern city of Perth.
“Our government cannot claim to support human rights while continuing to arm an apartheid regime,” Friends of Palestine Western Australia organiser Nick Everett was quoted as saying by WAToday newspaper.
“Trade unions, civil society, and communities across the country are united in calling for action. Palestine can’t wait.”
‘Enough is enough’
The protests came after the world’s leading authority on food crises – the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) – declared famine in Gaza City.
The warning has come as Israeli forces have intensified attacks and bombardments across Gaza, where nearly two million people have been displaced.
The IPC report said more than half a million people in Gaza – about a quarter of its population – face catastrophic levels of hunger, with many at risk of dying from malnutrition-related issues.
Protests in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza were also held elsewhere around the globe on Sunday, including in Malaysia, Kenya, Belgium and Senegal. Over the weekend, demonstrations took place in the United Kingdom and Sweden.
A mass rally held in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, saw thousands of people demonstrate, answering a call by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who said the demonstration would act as a starting point to form a group of activists to take humanitarian aid to Gaza later this month.
In Senegal’s capital Dakar, demonstrators condemned Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the enclave, and called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into the famine-struck Gaza Strip.
In Nairobi, hundreds of bikers rallied, chanting: “Free Palestine”. Many decried the international community for its inability to stop Israel’s deadly assault.
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Nairobi, said protesters are standing in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
“They have watched horrific images of children who are starving; they have seen parents being killed as they go to get food for their families,” Soi said. “Here, they are saying: ‘Enough is enough.’”
At least 62,263 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Palestine war since it started on October 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The victims include at least 2,000 Palestinians who were attempting to secure meagre food parcels at the Israeli and US-backed GHF aid distribution sites, dubbed by Palestinian officials as “death traps”.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza, including using starvation as a weapon of war.
On a recent evening in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, an imam named Ibrahima Diane explained to a group of men why they ought to be more involved in household chores.
“The prophet himself says that a man who does not help to support his wife and children is not a good Muslim,” said the 53-year-old, as he described bathing his baby and assisting his wife with other duties.
Some of the men chuckled, not entirely convinced, while others applauded.
Diane was participating in a “school for husbands”, a United Nations-backed initiative in which respected male community members learn about “positive masculinity” in relation to health and social issues, and promote these concepts within their communities.
In Senegal, as in many other West African countries with large rural or conservative populations, men often have the final say in major household decisions, including those related to health.
Women may require their husbands’ permission for life-changing decisions, such as accessing family planning or other reproductive health services, as well as hospital deliveries or prenatal care.
After attending the school for husbands, Diane regularly delivers sermons during Friday prayers, in which he discusses issues around gender and reproductive health, from gender-based violence to combating stigma surrounding HIV.
“Many women appreciate my sermons,” he said. “They say their husbands’ behaviour has changed since attending them.” He added that some men have told him the sermons inspired them to become more caring husbands and fathers.
The programme was launched in Senegal in 2011, but in recent years has attracted the attention of the Ministry of Women, Family, Gender and Child Protection, which regards it as an effective strategy for combatting maternal and infant mortality.
“Without men’s involvement, attitudes towards maternal health will not change,” said Aida Diouf, a 54-year-old female health worker who collaborates with the programme. Many husbands prefer their wives not to be treated by male health workers, she explained.
Discussions for men have also focused on girls’ rights, equality, and the harmful effects of female genital mutilation.
The programme now operates at least 20 schools throughout Senegal, and more than 300 men have been trained.
In some communities, men who once enforced patriarchal norms now promote gender equality, a shift which has led to a reduction in the number of forced marriages and greater acceptance of family planning, according to Senegal’s Ministry of Gender.
Men join the groups after being recruited based on trust, leadership and commitment. Candidates must be married, respected locally, and supportive of women’s health and rights.
After training, the men serve as peer educators, visiting homes and hosting informal discussions.
Although maternal and infant deaths in Senegal have declined over the past decade, experts say there is still much progress to be made. The country recorded 237 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, and 21 newborns out of every 1,000 died within their first month. The UN’s global target is to reduce maternal deaths to 70 per 100,000 live births and newborn deaths to under 12 per 1,000 by 2030.
A key problem is that many women have continued to give birth at home, said El Hadj Malick, one of the programme’s coordinators.
“By educating men about the importance of supporting their wives during pregnancy, taking them to hospital and helping with domestic work at home, you are protecting people’s health,” Malick said.
He noted that he still encounters difficulty in changing attitudes on some issues.
“But when we focus on women’s right to be healthy, it gives a human face to the concept and it becomes universal,” Malick said.
France has handed over its two remaining military bases in Senegal, ending its 65-year presence in the African country. A departure ceremony was held in Dakar for the final contingent of around 350 French soldiers.
About 350 French soldiers are leaving Senegal, marking the end of a departure process that began in March.
France has officially handed over its two remaining military bases in Senegal, leaving the onetime colonial power with no permanent presence in either West or Central Africa.
France returned Camp Geille, its largest base in Senegal, and its airfield at Dakar’s airport in a ceremony on Thursday attended by top French and Senegalese officials, including Senegalese Chief of the General Staff Mbaye Cisse and General Pascal Ianni, the head of the French forces in Africa.
The pullout ends the French army’s 65-year presence in Senegal and comes after similar withdrawals across the continent as former colonies increasingly turn their backs on the nation that once ruled them.
France’s withdrawal from Senegal also comes as the Sahel region faces a growing conflict. The violence across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger is threatening Gulf of Guinea nations to the south.
About 350 French soldiers, who had primarily been tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, are now leaving the country, marking the end of a departure process that began in March.
General Cisse said the handover marked “an important turning point in the rich and long military journey of our two countries”.
France is “reinventing partnerships in a dynamic Africa”, Ianni said. “We are turning a page in the military history of our two countries, … a very special relationship and one essential for the countries of the region.”
However, unlike the leaders of other former French colonies such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, which are run by military governments, Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris.
After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France’s staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its history.
Faye has also urged France to apologise for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African troops who had fought for France in World War II.
With governments across Africa increasingly questioning France’s military presence, Paris has closed or reduced the numbers of its soldiers at bases across its former empire.
The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the Sahel region.
Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali from 2020 to 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. Their governments have collectively ejected 4,300 French soldiers. All three countries have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel’s decade-long unrest.
The Central African Republic, also a former French colony to which the Kremlin has sent mercenaries, has likewise demanded a French pullout.
Meanwhile, the French army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with its Central African host.
Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base after Thursday’s withdrawal. France intends to make that base with about 1,500 people its military headquarters for Africa.
On July 9, United States President Donald Trump opened a three-day mini summit at the White House with the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal – by subjecting his distinguished guests to a carefully staged public humiliation.
This was not the plan – or at least, not the part the public was meant to see.
A White House official claimed on July 3 that “President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners.”
Whether by coincidence or calculated design, the meeting took place on the same day the Trump administration escalated its trade war, slapping new tariffs on eight countries, including the North African nations of Libya and Algeria. It was a telling contrast: Even as Trump claimed to be “strengthening ties with Africa”, his administration was penalising African nations. The optics revealed the incoherence – or perhaps the honesty – of Trump’s Africa policy, where partnership is conditional and often indistinguishable from punishment.
Trump opened the summit with a four-minute speech in which he claimed the five invited leaders were representing the entire African continent. Never mind that their countries barely register in US-Africa trade figures; what mattered was the gold, oil, and minerals buried beneath their soil. He thanked “these great leaders… all from very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.
He then announced that the US was “shifting from AID to trade” because “this will be far more effective and sustainable and beneficial than anything else that we could be doing together.”
At that moment, the illusion of diplomacy collapsed, and the true nature of the meeting was revealed. Trump shifted from statesman to showman, no longer merely hosting but asserting control. The summit quickly descended into a cringe-inducing display, where Africa was presented not as a continent of sovereign nations but as a rich expanse of resources, fronted by compliant leaders performing for the cameras. This was not a dialogue but a display of domination: A stage-managed production in which Trump scripted the scene and African heads of state were cast in subordinate roles.
Trump was in his element, orchestrating the event like a puppet master, directing each African guest to play his part and respond favourably. He “invited” (in effect, instructed) them to make “a few comments to the media” in what became a choreographed show of deference.
President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania led the way, both physically and symbolically, by praising Trump’s “commitment” to Africa. The claim was as misleading as it was surreal, given Washington’s recent aid cuts, punitive tariffs, and tightened visa restrictions on African nations.
In one especially embarrassing moment, Ghazouani described Trump as the world’s top peacemaker – crediting him, among other things, with stopping “the war between Iran and Israel”. This praise came with no mention of the US’s continued military and diplomatic support for Israel’s war on Gaza, which the African Union has firmly condemned. The silence amounted to complicity, a calculated erasure of Palestinian suffering for the sake of American favour.
Perhaps mindful of the tariffs looming over his own country, Ghazouani, who served as AU Chair in 2024, slipped into the role of a willing supplicant. He all but invited Trump to exploit Mauritania’s rare minerals, praised him and declared him a peacemaker while ignoring the massacres of tens of thousands of innocents in Gaza made possible by the very weapons Trump provides.
This tone would define the entire sit-down. One by one, the African leaders offered Trump glowing praise and access to their countries’ natural resources – a disturbing reminder of how easily power can script compliance.
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye even asked Trump to build a golf course in his country. Trump declined, opting instead to compliment Faye’s youthful appearance. Gabon’s President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema talked of “win-win partnerships” with the US, but received only a lukewarm response.
What did capture Trump’s attention was the English fluency of Liberia’s President Joseph Boakai. Ignoring the content of Boakai’s remarks, Trump marvelled at his “beautiful” English and asked, “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated? Where? In Liberia?”
That Trump seemed unaware English is Liberia’s official language, and has been since its founding in 1822 as a haven for freed American slaves, was perhaps less shocking than the colonial tone of his question. His astonishment that an African president could speak English well betrayed a deeply racist, imperial mindset.
It was not an isolated slip. At a White House peace ceremony on June 29 involving the DRC and Rwanda, Trump publicly commented on the appearance of Angolan journalist and White House correspondent Hariana Veras, telling her, “You are beautiful – and you are beautiful inside.”
Whether or not Veras is “beautiful” is entirely beside the point. Trump’s behaviour was inappropriate and unprofessional, reducing a respected journalist to her looks in the middle of a diplomatic milestone. The sexualisation of Black women – treating them as vessels of white male desire rather than intellectual equals – was central to both the transatlantic slave trade and European colonisation. Trump’s comment extended that legacy into the present.
Likewise, his surprise at Boakai’s English fits a long imperial pattern. Africans who “master” the coloniser’s language are often seen not as complex, multilingual intellectuals, but as subordinates who’ve absorbed the dominant culture. They are rewarded for proximity to whiteness, not for intellect or independence.
Trump’s remarks revealed his belief that articulate and visually appealing Africans are an anomaly, a novelty deserving momentary admiration. By reducing both Boakai and Veras to aesthetic curiosities, he erased their agency, dismissed their achievements, and gratified his colonial ego.
More than anything, Trump’s comments on Boakai reflected his deeper indifference to Africa. They stripped away any illusion that this summit was about genuine partnership.
Contrast this with the US-Africa Leaders Summit held by President Joe Biden in December 2022. That event welcomed more than 40 African heads of state, as well as the African Union, civil society, and private sector leaders. It prioritised peer-to-peer dialogue and the AU’s Agenda 2063 – a far cry from Trump’s choreographed spectacle.
How the Trump administration concluded that five men could represent the entire continent remains baffling, unless, of course, this wasn’t about representation at all, but control. Trump didn’t want engagement; he wanted performance. And sadly, his guests obliged.
In contrast to the tightly managed meeting Trump held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 8, the lunch with African leaders resembled a chaotic, tone-deaf sideshow.
Faye was especially disappointing. He came to power on the back of an anti-imperialist platform, pledging to break with neocolonial politics and restore African dignity. Yet at the White House, he bent the knee to the most brazen imperialist of them all. Like the others, he failed to challenge Trump, to assert equality, or to defend the sovereignty he so publicly champions at home.
In a moment when African leaders had the chance to push back against a resurgent colonial mindset, they instead bowed – giving Trump space to revive a 16th-century fantasy of Western mastery.
For this, he offered a reward: He might not impose new tariffs on their countries, he said, “because they are friends of mine now”.
Trump, the “master”, triumphed.
All the Africans had to do was bow at his feet.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
Trump is hosting leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal on Wednesday for with discussions to focus on business opportunities.
United States President Donald Trump is meeting with leaders from five African nations as he escalates a trade war that could impact developing countries reliant on commerce with the US.
On Wednesday, Trump hosted leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal at the White House for talks and a working lunch, with discussions expected to centre on business opportunities, according to a White House official.
During the lunch, Trump said they hail from “very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, great oil deposits and wonderful people”.
“There’s a lot of anger on your continent. We’ve been able to solve a lot of it,” Trump said, pointing to a recent peace agreement leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda recently signed at the White House.
The leaders are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation, including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to statements from the White House and Liberia. Trump said the five countries were unlikely to face US tariffs.
President Trump Participates in a Multilateral Lunch with African Leaders https://t.co/nkcx56xF74
Trump is expected to soon announce dates for a broader summit with African leaders, possibly in September around the time of the United Nations General Assembly.
This week’s mini-summit marks the latest effort by successive administrations to counter perceptions that the US has neglected a continent where China has increasingly made economic inroads.
Trade, investment in focus
Wednesday’s meeting is expected to focus on economics.
During the meeting, Gabon’s President Brice Oligui Nguema told Trump his country was open to investment and wants to see its raw mineral resources processed locally, but needs large investments in energy to do so.
“We are not poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials. But we need partners to support us and help us develop those resources with win-win partnerships,” Nguema said at the meeting.
Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye suggested his country also offered investment opportunities for tourism, including a golf course.
Faye said the course would only be a six-hour flight from New York and suggested Trump could visit to show off his skills.
The US International Development Finance Corporation said earlier in the day it would provide project development funding for the Banio Potash Mine in Mayumba, Gabon, helping Gabon reduce its dependence on imports.
“DFC’s efforts not only benefit the countries and communities where they invest but also advance US economic interests by opening new markets, strengthening trade relationships, and promoting a more secure and prosperous global economy,” said DFC head of investments Conor Coleman.
The five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of US-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources.
Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along with Guinea-Bissau, are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
However, African Union officials question how Africa could deepen trade ties with the US under what they called “abusive” tariff proposals and visa restrictions largely targeting travellers from Africa.
The top US diplomat for Africa, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, has dismissed allegations of unfair US trade practices.
Earlier this month, US authorities dissolved the US Agency for International Development and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model” and instead will focus on partnerships with nations that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves”.
Those cuts could result in more than 14 million additional deaths by 2030, research published by The Lancet medical journal showed last week.
DAKAR, Senegal — President Trump is hosting five West African leaders on Wednesday for a “multilateral lunch” at the White House as the region reels from the impact of U.S. aid cuts.
The leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau are expected to discuss key areas of cooperation, including economic development, security, infrastructure and democracy, according to a statement from the Liberian presidency. The White House has not provided further details.
The surprise meeting comes as the Trump administration has taken radical steps it said are meant to reshape the U.S. relationship with Africa.
Earlier this month, U.S. authorities dissolved theU.S. Agency for International Development, and said it was no longer following what they called “a charity-based foreign aid model” and will instead focus on partnership with nations that show “both the ability and willingness to help themselves.”
The U.S. African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell earlier this year said that Trump administration wants to focus on eliminating trade deficits with Africa.
“Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals,” he said.
Critics say that the abrupt shift will result in millions of deaths.
A study published in the Lancet medical journal late last month projected that USAID’s dismantling and deep funding cuts would lead to more than 14 million additional deaths globally by 2030, including 4.5 million children.
West African countries are among the hardest hit by the dissolution of the USAID. The U.S. support in Liberia amounted to 2.6% of the country’s gross national income, the highest percentage anywhere in the world, according to the Center for Global Development.
Five nations whose leaders are meeting Trump represent a small fraction of the U.S-Africa trade, but they possess untapped natural resources. Senegal and Mauritania are important transit and origin countries when it comes to migration, and along Guinea Bissau are struggling to contain drug trafficking, both issues of concern for the Trump administration.
Liberia’s President Joseph Nyuma Boakai in a statement “expressed optimism about the outcomes of the summit, reaffirming Liberia’s commitment to regional stability, democratic governance, and inclusive economic growth.”
Gabon, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal are among 36 countries which might be included in the possible expansion of Trump’s travel ban.
The Senegalese women’s basketball team has scrapped plans to train in the U.S. for the upcoming AfroBasket tournament in the Ivory Coast next month after several players and team officials had their visas denied, Senegal’s prime minister said.
Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said on Facebook Thursday that the team would train in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, “in a sovereign and conducive setting.”
The West African nation’s federation said in a statement that the visa applications of five players and seven officials weren’t approved.
“Informed of the refusal of issuing visas to several members of the Senegal women’s national basketball team, I have instructed the Ministry of Sports to simply cancel the 10-day preparatory training initially planned in the United States of America,” Sonko said.
The visa denials come amid a push by the Trump administration to make countries improve vetting of travelers or face a ban on their citizens visiting the United States. Senegal wasn’t on that list of countries and it was not immediately clear why the visas were denied.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told the Associated Press that it could not comment on individual cases because visa records are confidential under U.S. law.
The travel ban includes exemptions for the World Cup, the Olympics and any “other major sporting event,” though it’s unclear what constitutes a major event.
The team is coached by Otis Hughley Jr., who previously led the Nigerian women’s basketball team. He was the men’s coach at Alabama A&M University before resigning in March.
Senegal, which was going to train in the U.S. from Sunday through July 3, has finished first or second in four of the last five AfroBasket championships over the last decade and has won 11 titles overall. The tournament determines Africa’s champion, which earns entry into the FIBA World Cup next year in Germany.
England fan Harrison Turner was tragically killed on May 30
2
Harrison’s family held a banner in his honour outside the City Ground on TuesdayCredit: izzyrichardson instagram
Harrison was tragically killed after being struck while working on a motorway hard shoulder on May 30.
He suffered serious injuries and died at the scene of the crash close to the southbound slip road at junction 8 of the M1.
Harrison’s loving family organised for the minute’s applause to take place in the 26th minute in his honour.
Thomas Tuchel‘s side were leading 1-0 after Harry Kane slotted in his 73rd international goal in the seventh minute.
According to his family, the youngster was a huge England fan that went home and away.
He was also a big Chelsea supporter, regularly attending Stamford Bridge to cheer on the Blues.
A man, 58, from Luton, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drink or drugs and failing to stop at the scene of a collision.
Det Sgt Ben Heath, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said: “Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones at this difficult time.
“Our inquiries are continuing, and I am appealing for anyone with information to please come forward.
“Did you see what happened, or witness anything before the collision?
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for their patience whilst we put road closures in place.”
Anyone who saw the crash, has information or dash cam footage has been urged to contact the police.
England’s friendly against Senegal on Tuesday is taking place at the City Ground in Nottingham as Wembley enters concert season.
The Three Lions traditionally play their home matches at the national stadium, but their final match of this season will be staged at Nottingham Forest’s home ground.
Wembley will host seven concerts in the next month, then another 19 – plus Oleksandr Usyk v Daniel Dubois – before England’s next match there, which is against Wales on 9 October.
The World Cup qualifier against Andorra in September will be held at Villa Park.
The last time the City Ground hosted England’s first team was in March 1909, when they were 2-0 winners over Wales in a Home Championship match.
Speaking after the announcement of the friendly, England boss Thomas Tuchel said: “Facing a strong African team in a passionate city with rich football heritage can only help us on the road to the World Cup.
“While I know Wembley is our home, I also understand the importance of taking the team around the country when we are able to and the opportunity to experience playing at a famous old English stadium such as the City Ground is one we can all look forward to.”
Former Chelsea boss Tuchel says the players have trained very differently, however, so he has urged the Three Lions to play with freedom, take heed of instructions, and “just go for it”.
Tuchel began work as England head coach in January and Tuesday’s friendly against Senegal in Nottingham will be his fourth game in charge.
“I see us train with a smile, but not play with a smile,” Tuchel said.
“We need to improve, for sure. We need to improve in connections, in support, in interactions in the group.
“I feel we are too isolated on the pitch. We have not clicked yet.
“We have a lot of positives to take away in training and in the sessions I see a lot of it, and it will obviously take a little bit to translate it to the pitch.”
Tuchel added: “The best thing is to focus on the principles of the game, to give clear instructions to the players, [on] what we expect from them in their role.
“And then they forget about the shirt and how heavy it is. They [can be] free in the role and they know what to do, that they have people around with whom it is easy for them to connect. And then just go for it.”
Their situation seemed desperate; their demeanour, portrayed in several videos published by news outlets, was sour.
On a recent weekday in March, men, women, and even children – all with their belongings heaped on their heads or strapped to their bodies – disembarked from the ferry they say they were forcibly hauled onto from the vast northwest African nation of Mauritania to the Senegalese town of Rosso, on the banks of the Senegal River.
Their offence? Being migrants from the region, they told reporters, regardless of whether they had legal residency papers.
“We suffered there,” one woman told France’s TV5 Monde, a baby perched on her hip. “It was really bad.”
The deportees are among hundreds of West Africans who have been rounded up by Mauritanian security forces, detained, and sent over the border to Senegal and Mali in recent months, human rights groups say.
According to one estimate from the Mauritanian Association for Human Rights (AMDH),1,200 people were pushed back in March alone, even though about 700 of them had residence permits.
Those pushed back told reporters about being randomly approached for questioning before being arrested, detained for days in tight prison cells with insufficient food and water, and tortured. Many people remained in prison in Mauritania, they said.
The largely desert country – which has signed expensive deals with the European Union to keep migrants from taking the risky boat journey across the Atlantic Ocean to Western shores – has called the pushbacks necessary to crack down on human smuggling networks.
However, its statements have done little to calm rare anger from its neighbours, Mali and Senegal, whose citizens make up a huge number of those sent back.
A member of the Mauritanian National Guard flies an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on the outskirts of Oualata, on April 6, 2025 [Patrick Meinhardt/AFP]
Mali’s government, in a statement in March, expressed “indignation” at the treatment of its nationals, adding that “the conditions of arrest are in flagrant violation of human rights and the rights of migrants in particular.”
In Senegal, a member of parliament called the pushbacks “xenophobic” and urged the government to launch an investigation.
“We’ve seen these kinds of pushbacks in the past but it is at an intensity we’ve never seen before in terms of the number of people deported and the violence used,” Hassan Ould Moctar, a migration researcher at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, told Al Jazeera.
The blame, the researcher said, was largely to be put on the EU. On one hand, Mauritania was likely under pressure from Brussels, and on the other hand, it was also likely reacting to controversial rumours that migrants deported from Europe would be resettled in the country despite Nouakchott’s denial of such an agreement.
Is Mauritania the EU’s external border?
Mauritania, on the edge of the Atlantic, is one of the closest points from the continent to Spain’s Canary Islands. That makes it a popular departure point for migrants who crowd the coastal capital, Nouakchott, and the commercial northern city of Nouadhibou. Most are trying to reach the Canaries, a Spanish enclave closer to the African continent than to Europe, from where they can seek asylum.
Due to its role as a transit hub, the EU has befriended Nouakchott – as well as the major transit points of Morocco and Senegal – since the 2000s, pumping funds to enable security officials there to prevent irregular migrants from embarking on the crossing.
However, the EU honed in on Mauritania with renewed vigour last year after the number of people travelling from the country shot up to unusual levels, making it the number one departure point.
About 83 percent of the 7,270 people who arrived in the Canaries in January 2024 travelled from Mauritania, migrant advocacy group Caminando Fronteras (CF) noted in a report last year. That number represented a 1,184 percent increase compared with January 2023, when most people were leaving Senegal. Some 3,600 died on the Mauritania-Atlantic route between January and April 2024, CF noted.
Boys work on making shoes at Nouadhibou’s Organization for the Support of Migrants and Refugees, in Mauritania [File: Khaled Moulay/AP]
Analysts, and the EU, link the surge to upheavals wracking the Sahel, from Mali to Niger, including coups and attacks by several armed groups looking to build caliphates. In Mali, attacks on local communities by armed groups and government forces suspicious of locals have forced hundreds over the border into Mauritania in recent weeks.
Ibrahim Drame of the Senegalese Red Cross in the border town of Rosso told Al Jazeera the migrant raids began in January after a new immigration law went into force, requiring a residence permit for any foreigner living on Mauritanian soil. However, he said most people have not had an opportunity to apply for those permits. Before this, nationals of countries like Senegal and Mali enjoyed free movement under bilateral agreements.
“Raids have been organised day and night, in large markets, around bus stations, and on the main streets,” Drame noted, adding that those affected are receiving dwindling shelter and food support from the Red Cross, and included migrants from Togo, Nigeria, Niger, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Benin.
“Hundreds of them were even hunted down in their homes or workplaces, without receiving the slightest explanation … mainly women, children, people with chronic illnesses in a situation of extreme vulnerability and stripped of all their belongings, even their mobile phones,” Drame said.
Last February, European Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen, visited President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani in Nouakchott to sign a 210 million euro ($235m) “migrant partnership agreement”. The EU said the agreement was meant to intensify “border security cooperation” with Frontex, the EU border agency, and dismantle smuggler networks. The bloc has promised an additional 4 million euros ($4.49m) this year to provide food, medical, and psychosocial support to migrants.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was also in Mauritania in August to sign a separate border security agreement.
Fear and pain from a dark past
Black Mauritanians in the country, meanwhile, say the pushback campaign has awakened feelings of exclusion and forced displacement carried by their communities. Some fear the deportations may be directed at them.
Activist Abdoulaye Sow, founder of the US-based Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in the US (MNHRUS), told Al Jazeera that to understand why Black people in the country feel threatened, there’s a need to understand the country’s painful past.
Located at a confluence where the Arab world meets Sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritania has historically been racially segregated, with the Arab-Berber political elite dominating over the Black population, some of whom were previously, or are still, enslaved. It was only in 1981 that Mauritania passed a law abolishing slavery, but the practice still exists, according to rights groups.
Boys sit in a classroom at Nouadhibou’s Organization for the Support of Migrants and Refugees [File: Khaled Moulay/AP]
Dark-skinned Black Mauritanians are composed of Haratines, an Arabic-speaking group descended from formerly enslaved peoples. There are also non-Arabic speaking groups like the Fulani and Wolof, who are predominantly from the Senegal border area in the country’s south.
Black Mauritanians, Sow said, were once similarly deported en masse in trucks from the country to Senegal. It dates back to April 1989, when simmering tensions between Mauritanian herders and Senegalese farmers in border communities erupted and led to the 1989-1991 Border War between the two countries. Both sides deployed their militaries in heavy gunfire battles. In Senegal, mobs attacked Mauritanian traders, and in Mauritania, security forces cracked down on Senegalese nationals.
Because a Black liberation movement was also growing at the time, and the Mauritanian military government was fearful of a coup, it cracked down on Black Mauritanians, too.
By 1991, there were refugees on either side in the thousands. However, after peace came about, the Mauritanian government expelled thousands of Black Mauritanians under the guise of repatriating Senegalese refugees. Some 60,000 people were forced into Senegal. Many lost important citizenship and property documents in the process.
“I was a victim too,” Sow said. “It wasn’t safe for Blacks who don’t speak Arabic. I witnessed armed people going house to house and asking people if they were Mauritanian, beating them, even killing them.”
Sow said it is why the deportation of sub-Saharan migrants is scaring the community. Although he has written open letters to the government warning of how Black people could be affected, he said there has been no response.
“When they started these recent deportations again, I knew where they were going, and we’ve already heard of a Black Mauritanian deported to Mali. We’ve been sounding the alarm for so long, but the government is not responsive.”
The Mauritanian government directed Al Jazeera to an earlier statement it released regarding the deportations, but did not address allegations of possible forced expulsions of Black Mauritanians.
In the statement, the government said it welcomed legal migrants from neighbouring countries, and that it was targeting irregular migrants and smuggling networks.
“Mauritania has made significant efforts to enable West African nationals to regularise their residence status by obtaining resident cards following simplified procedures,” the statement read.
Although Mauritania eventually agreed to take back its nationals between 2007 and 2012, many Afro-Mauritanians still do not have documents proving their citizenship as successive administrations implement fluctuating documentation and census laws. Tens of thousands are presently stateless, Sow said. At least 16,000 refugees chose to stay back in Senegal to avoid persecution in Mauritania.
Sow said the fear of another forced deportation comes on top of other issues, including national laws that require students in all schools to learn in Arabic, irrespective of their culture. Arabic is Mauritania’s lingua franca, but Afro-Mauritanians who speak languages like Wolof or Pula are against what they call “forced Arabisation”. Sow says it is “cultural genocide”.
Despite new residence permit laws in place, Sow added, migrants, as well as the Black Mauritanian population, should be protected.
“Whether they are migrants or not, they have their rights as people, as humans,” he said.
The US and China have agreed to slash tariffs temporarily in a surprise breakthrough.
The United States and China have surprisingly agreed to a dramatic de-escalation in their trade war.
Under the agreement, the world’s two largest economies have paused their respective tariffs for 90 days.
That breaks an impasse which has brought much of the commerce between the two nations to a halt.
Critics say the talks in Geneva did not appear to yield any meaningful concessions. The two sides aim to reach a broader deal, but this takes too long to negotiate.
Also in this episode, we examine whether the US-UK trade pact will deliver real benefits, or is it symbolism over substance?
Also, Senegal is capitalising on its energy wealth to change its fortunes.
