Established in the early 1960s, the team have been regular competitors in the Africa Cup of Nations, where their best performances were runner-up to Cameroon in the 2002 edition in Mali, and to Algeria in the 2019 edition in Egypt. 2002 also saw Senegal compete at the FIFA World Cup for the first time and reach the quarter-finals, having defeated reigning champions France in the opening game. The team made their second World Cup appearance sixteen years later, where they were eliminated in the group stage against Japan based on fair play points.