Published On 2/7/2026
Senegal national team star Pape Gueye made resounding news when he announced his retirement from international football “temporarily” due to what appear to be problems with the current coach of the Teranga Lions, Pape Thiaw.
Gaye wrote on Instagram: “I will return to say a few words about the exclusion… but I announce today that I will take a break from the national team as long as this technical staff is in charge.”
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Thiaw had replaced Gueye in the 66th minute of the Belgium-Senegal match, when the score indicated a 2-0 lead for the Lions, and he was replaced by Lamine Kamara.
Villarreal’s midfield star showed signs of anger during the substitution, which could be the final episode in his problems with Pape Thiaw.
After the match, Gaye told reporters that “he was doing well physically, but the decision remains with the coach,” as he put it.
Pape Gueye is considered one of the most important players of the current generation in the Senegalese national team. He contributed effectively to Senegal’s crowning of the 2021 African Cup title and scored the winning goal in the final match in 2025 against Morocco before the title was withdrawn from Senegal due to the players withdrawing in objection to referee Jean-Jacques Ndala’s decision to award a penalty kick in favor of the Moroccan team.
The Senegal national team lost dramatically to its Belgian counterpart by three goals to two in the two teams’ match for the round of 32 of the World Cup in 2026, after the result of the match indicated that Senegal had advanced by two clean goals until the eighty-sixth minute of the match.
Then the Belgians scored three goals through Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans (two goals), eliminating the Teranga Lions and preventing them from completing the campaign to achieve their best results again, when they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 2002.
