Madar (Dakar) - A fact-check published on Friday, 6 November 2026 by Senegalese daily Le Soleil rated as "false" former international El Hadji Ousseynou Diouf's claim that Senegal is, after Brazil, the country that supplies the most players to European leagues.
Diouf said on Thursday, 5 November, on the sidelines of Patrick Vieira's squad announcement: "After Brazil, Senegal is the country that supplies the most players in Europe". According to the paper, he agreed to answer questions by voice note but had not responded 24 hours later despite reminders.
In the CIES Football Observatory's 2026 ranking, covering 83 European competitions, Senegal is 16th with 252 expatriate players, far behind leaders Brazil with 812, and behind Nigeria (468) and Ghana (288), just ahead of Côte d'Ivoire (241).
CIES counts as expatriates players who grew up in a country and moved abroad for football reasons, regardless of nationality or family origin, which excludes heritage players eligible for Senegal, such as goalkeeper Yehvann Diouf, born and based in France. Analyst Loïc Ravenel described Diouf's statement as "presumptuous".
According to FBref data for Europe's big five leagues (Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1) in the 2026-27 season, which count players by nationality, Senegal is 11th with 47 players, ahead of Morocco (45), Côte d'Ivoire (40), Nigeria (27) and Ghana (21).
Excluding European nationalities, Senegal ranks third behind Brazil and Argentina and is the top African nation, but neither method places it second among non-European countries, Le Soleil concluded.
