United States – Senegal: time, channels, and broadcast of the friendly match of the Lions

The Senegal national team will play a friendly match against the United States on Sunday, May 31, at 19:30 GMT at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the first direct confrontation between the two teams in international football history. The kick-off was given at 21:30 French time; the match had no known result at the time of publication.

Head coach Pape Thiaw has opted to leave Sadio Mané and Idrissa Gana Gueye on the bench, according to information from Senenews, indicating a lineup focused on evaluating less regularly starting players. Senegal played another friendly just two weeks before this match (a 3-1 victory against Gambia on March 31), while the United States came off a 0-2 defeat against Portugal on April 1, two results that illustrate divergent recent dynamics.

The match was proposed by the American Federation to Senegal shortly after the World Cup draw, organized jointly by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It serves as a high-level test for the Lions less than two weeks before the start of the competition, which begins on June 11.

A Demanding Group I for Senegal

Drawn into Group I, Senegal will face France in its first match of the tournament — a major clash for both teams. The group is completed by Norway and a representative from the intercontinental playoff tournament (Bolivia, Suriname, or Iraq). This is the toughest group for Senegal since its 2022 campaign in Qatar, where it reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by England (3-0). The Lions have been African champions since their victory at AFCON 2022 but are coming off a controversial elimination in the AFCON 2025 final against Morocco, with the result overturned on the green carpet after the incidents of January 18.

The United States, co-hosts, are automatically qualified and exempt from the group stage for certain setups. The match on May 31 allows them to test their team against a top African nation in their home stadium in Charlotte, one of the designated host cities for the World Cup.

Broadcast

In France, the match is broadcast on L’Équipe Live Foot. In Senegal, RTS is announced as the broadcaster according to the information usually provided for such matches, though no official confirmation is available. In the United States, the broadcast is on TNT, truTV, and HBO Max. In French-speaking Africa, Canal+ Sport Africa is the announced broadcaster.