Patrick Vieira appointed Senegal head coach with AFCON qualifiers looming

Former France, Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira replaces Pape Thiaw as Senegal coach.Former Arsenal and Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira has been named as the new national team football coach of Senegal, replacing Pape Thiaw.Vieira was born in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, but represented France on the international stage and in 1998 was part of the first French side to lift a World Cup.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4FIFA COO Lamour exits after criticism of Infantino’s World Cup planlist 2 of 4Arsenal preview: Five key questions heading into new Premier League seasonlist 3 of 4Premier League is back: All to know as the 2026-27 season kicks offlist 4 of 4Rights group urges FIFA to block Infantino re-election bid over term limitsend of listThe 50-year-old takes over from Thiaw, who led Senegal to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, which was subsequently stripped from them and handed to Morocco following a mid-game walk-off by Senegalese players and staff.Thiaw was heavily criticised for his side’s Round of 32 exit at the FIFA World Cup 2026, which was confirmed by a 3-2 defeat by Belgium, and was subsequently dismissed.The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said in a social media post that Vieira’s appointment is a “strategic move” aiming to “establish a high-level technical set-up, in line with our country’s sporting ambitions”.Vieira, who began his playing career in France at Cannes, enjoyed a successful spell in Serie A with AC Milan before he was brought to the Premier League with Arsenal by his fellow countryman, Arsene Wenger.The combative midfielder won three Premier League titles with the London-based club in his spell between 1996 and 2005, before joining Juventus in Italy’s Serie A and then signing for AC’s rival Inter. He ended his playing days at Manchester City in 2011.Alongside his World Cup success with France, Vieira was also part of the Euro 2000 winning side and earned more than 100 caps for his adopted country.