Exactly 500 days before the 2026 Youth Olympic Games opened, Senegal recorded their first-ever win at an IHF Beach Handball World Championship when their women’s youth team defeated hosts Tunisia at the 2025 IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship in Hammamet.

Their come-from-behind, 2-1 (8:15, 20:14, SO 7:4) win silenced a packed home crowd and saw the watching men’s side run onto the sand to celebrate with their fellow Senegalese.

“Nous sommes des lions” (‘we are lions’),” said then captain Latdara NDOYE when asked by IHF.info how she felt directly after that historic result and she and the rest of her team will hope to continue that roar on home sand this November.

Helping guide NDOYE and her squad over the past year or so has been former French indoor international goalkeeper, three-time Olympian (2000, 2004, 2008) and 2003 IHF Women’s World Championship winner Valerie NICOLAS, part of the Senegal coaching staff, which also includes Khalifa ABDOU AZIZ DIOUF and Ndeye FATOU GUEYE.

NICOLAS is working (along with fellow French national and Senegal men’s coach) Mika ILLES as part of an IHF project with the Senegalese Handball Federation to help develop the sport for Dakar 2026 and will no doubt relish the opportunity to take on France – along with Kenya and Uruguay – in their preliminary group.

Due to age constraints for the Youth Olympic Games, NICOLAS was only able to name three players from her Tunisia 2025 squad for her squad of 11 for Dakar 2026, but they have pedigree and include their Tunisia top-scorer (78 points from nine games), left wing Maman Coumba DIOP, defender Awa Bousso BA and captain Latdara NDOYE (pivot).

“We are in a group with one of the best teams from the Americas, Uruguay, who are doing great work with its young players,” said NICOLAS about the fifth-placed side at the world championship last year. “The match against the European team will be special for me since because it is France, and I know that team is also working hard with its young players. And finally, there is Kenya, whom we have faced several times at the African Games and at Tunisia 2025.

“These will be good, tough matches and we will try to demonstrate the progress we have made since last year. The Senegal team is delighted to host the Youth Olympic Games in their country.”

In Tunisia, Senegal played their first-ever competitive game, losing 2-0 against Hungary, impressing with a 10:10 score in the last seconds of the second set, before committing a foul, giving away a six-metre penalty and then turning the ball over on their next attack after a technical fault.

“Some of my players had never taken a plane and this was their first time,” said NICOLAS at the time. “For them, everything is new. They have opened their eyes, and are taking in this whole experience because they know what’s most important for Senegal; the Youth Olympic Games.”

After that Hungary loss, they beat Tunisia 2-1 and defeated Mexico 2-0, before losing all three of their main round group games 2-0, against Spain, Croatia and Dakar 2026 group opponents, Uruguay (12:16, 14:24). They then faced another Dakar 2026 group opponent in the 9-16 placement round, Kenya, and lost that 1-2 (19:17, 16:22, SO 0:3) before beating Mexico and losing to Bulgaria to finish 14th.

Following on from their Tunisia 2025 experience, the team won gold at the 2025 ANOCA African Youth Games last December.

Against their continental rivals, they won all four of their preliminary group games (South Africa 2-0, Togo 2-0, Angola 2-0 and Kenya 2-1 (14:3, 10:18, SO 9:8)), hosts Angola (2-0) in the semi-final and then defeated Kenya again, in the final, winning 2-0 (13:12, 15:10).

The Senegalese women have also had some help from the senior Norway and Sweden sides in Angola earlier this year in April when they held a training camp together with the Angola youth side as part of the ‘Nordic Beach Week’.

“We are going to face strong teams that know how to play beach handball, but we are a team of friends who stand by one another and fight like lionesses on the field,” says Senegal captain Bineta BA ahead of taking to the sand in Dakar. 

“Beach handball is a spectacular sport with fundamentals such as the 360 and in-flight, it is a sport that requires discipline and it is a great honour to participate in the Youth Olympic Games. It is a source of pride to have the Games in Africa, and even more so in Senegal.”

With hopes on the sand high for the hosts, the significance of showcasing the sport to ensure its legacy in the West African nation is not lost on Marody DIAGNE, Secretary General of the Senegalese Handball Federation.

“Our teams are the first generation to receive training specifically for beach handball. The group consists of about 30 individuals who have been playing together for only four to five years, exclusively for the purpose of national team selection; there are no dedicated beach handball clubs,” he explained to IHF.info.

“The players originated from indoor handball – a discipline widely practiced in Senegal across middle and high schools in every department. Whether playing on makeshift courts or directly on the ground, despite the country’s extensive stretches of beaches and riverbanks, these athletes come from various inland regions. This background in indoor handball provides a strong foundation, while beach handball itself offers exciting, acrobatic moves and the benefit of an open-air, beach-based environment.

“Both of our squads are highly cohesive, composed primarily of players from a pioneering club in the sport, supplemented by young athletes whose physical profiles are well-suited to the discipline,” he added.

“The federation selected beach handball as a key discipline and has since spared no effort to ensure that athletes and coaches have the ideal conditions to prepare for an optimal performance, with the ultimate goal of securing at least one medal at the Games.

“The legacy left by the Games will enable us to broaden the base for the sport across the entire country and even establish one or more championships to ensure the long-term sustainability of beach handball.”

Coaches: Valerie NICOLAS, Khalifa ABDOU AZIZ DIOUF, Ndeye FATOU GUEYE
Key players: Maman Coumba DIOP (Left Wing), Awa Bousso BA (Defender), Latdara NDOYE (Pivot)
Qualification information: Host nation
History in tournament: 2018: DNQ
Group at Dakar 2026: Group B – France (FRA), Kenya (KEN), Senegal (SEN), Uruguay (URU)