In the early morning of November 18, 2022, Senegal officially announced that the team's number one star, African Footballer of the Year and Bayern Munich striker Mane, missed the World Cup due to a leg injury. Bild pointed out that Mane will likely need to recuperate for three months. This means that Mane will not only miss the World Cup, but will also most likely not be able to face Paris in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final.
As Senegal's absolute core and number one star, Mane was instrumental in his team's qualification for the World Cup, especially in a direct conversation with Egypt, who eliminated Egypt led by former Liverpool team-mate Salah. In this World Cup, Senegal is in Group A with hosts Qatar, the Netherlands and Ecuador, and the qualification situation is still good.
Mane represented Senegal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, four African Cups and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, including winning the Africa Cup in February 2022 and becoming Senegal's all-time top scorer in June 2022.
Mane was born on April 10, 1992, in a small remote county called Segiu in the Casamance region of Senegal. In 2007, Mane left his hometown for formal football training in Dakar, Senegal. Mane, who excelled, came to the European mainstream in 2011 and signed his first contract with Metz.
Mane made his professional debut on 14 January 2012 as a substitute against Bastia and on 4 May 2012 he scored his first professional goal against Gang. In 2011-2012, Mane made 19 appearances and started 12 games in his debut season, and in 2012-2013, he helped the team play three league rounds at the beginning of the season before moving to Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian League for 4 million euros, a transfer fee that also generated the third highest transfer fee income in Metz's history.
Mane scored 19 goals in his first season with Austria in 2012-2013 and scored his first hat-trick in the third round of the Austrian Cup against Karlsdorf on 31 October 2012. In the 2013-2014 season, Mane scored 23 goals in 50 games and won the double of the League One and the Cup at the club, scoring a hat-trick in each of these competitions, scoring a total of 45 goals in 87 appearances.
In September 2014, Mane joined Premier League side Southampton for €15 million. On 23 September 2014, Mane made his debut in a 2–1 win over Arsenal in the League Cup and won a penalty for Southampton. On 25 October, Mane scored his first Premier League goal against Stoke City.
In the 2014-2015 season, Mane scored 10 goals in 30 games, scored a zero-degree goal in the twentieth round of the league against Arsenal, and staged a decisive game against QPR and Crystal Palace, and on May 16, 2015, Mane set a record against Aston Villa when he scored a hat-trick in just 2 minutes and 56 seconds in the 13th, 14th and 16th minutes of the game, breaking the original Liverpool's Robbie Villa. Fowler set a record of 4 minutes and 33 seconds in 1994 and became the fastest player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick.
Mane scored twice against Liverpool on 21 March 2016, followed by a hat-trick against Manchester City on 2 May. Mane scored 15 goals in all competitions in one season and became the team's leading scorer. Mane joined Premier League giants Liverpool for £34 million on 28 June 2016 and made his official club debut in the first round of the season against Arsenal on 15 August 2016, scoring his first goal for the Reds in the 63rd minute. On 28 September, Mane was voted by PFA fans as Player of the Month for August and September. At the end of January 2017, Mane returned from the Africa Cup. In the game against Tottenham, Mane scored twice, which helped the team out of a winless run of many rounds. Voted Liverpool's Player of the Month for February.
On 10 May 2017, Mane was awarded Player of the Year and Player of the Year in the Player Mutual Rating. With 13 goals and five assists in one season, Mane joined Liverpool as runners-up in the 2017-18 Champions League on 27 May 2018, becoming the first Senegalese player in history to play in a Champions League final. On 12 August 2018, Mane scored a goal in Liverpool's Premier League match against West Ham, becoming the sixth player in history to score in the first round of the Premier League for the third consecutive season. On 21 August 2018, Mane made his 150th official appearance for Liverpool in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Crystal Palace. On 3 September 2018, Mane won the PFA Players' Union Player of the Month award.
On 13 May 2019, Mane won the Premier League Golden Boot for the 2018-2019 season. On January 8, 2020, Mane was named 2019 African Footballer of the Year. In the 2019-2020 season, Mane played 35 games for Liverpool in the Premier League, scoring 18 goals and providing 7 assists, helping Liverpool win the Premier League Championship trophy, was voted by PFA fans as Premier League Player of the Season, IFFHS Non-Football Player of the Year, and was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season.
On 18 September 2021, in the fifth round of the Premier League, Mane scored 100 goals for Liverpool and scored in nine consecutive Premier League games against Crystal Palace, setting a record for the highest consecutive number of consecutive goals in Premier League history against a single club. On October 16, in the eighth round of the Premier League, Mane scored his 100th Premier League goal, becoming the third African player to score 100 Premier League goals after Drogba and Salah.
On February 23, 2022, in the 19th round of Premier League play-offs, Mane scored twice, raising his Premier League goal count to 106, surpassing Drogba and rising to the second place in the Premier League African goalscorer list. On 19 April, in the 30th round of Premier League play-offs, Mane scored a pass that helped his team beat Manchester United 4-0, equalling Giggs with 109 Premier League goals and rising to 25th place in the Premier League's all-time top scorers. On 27 April, Mane scored in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals to help his team win 2-0 over Villarreal, tying with Drogba for the most goals in a knockout round of the Champions League with 14 goals. On May 3, in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, Mane scored to help the team beat Villarreal 3-2, surpassing Rooney and equalling Frank Lampard with 15 Champions League knockout goals, becoming the player who has scored the most goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League for a single English team; Overtook Drogba to become the African player who scored the most goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League. In the 2021-22 season, Mane was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season.
During his six years with Liverpool, Mane played 269 games for the team, scoring 120 goals and providing 48 assists, winning one Champions League, one Premier League, one UEFA Super Cup, one Club World Cup, one FA Cup and one League Cup.
In June 2022, Mane moved to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, with a total transfer fee of 40 million euros (about 35 million pounds). On July 21, in the Florida Cup, Mane scored the first goal of his Bayern career and helped the team win 6-2 over Washington, D.C. United. On July 22, Mane was named 2022 African Footballer of the Year. On 31 July, in the German Super Cup against Leipzig, Mane scored his first official match for Bayern to help his team win the German Super Cup. On 6 August, in the Bundesliga opener, Mane scored his first Bundesliga goal with a header to help his team win 6-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt, becoming the first Bayern player in 10 years to score in his first two official matches.
On October 1, in the eighth round of the Bundesliga, Mane scored his first home goal since joining Bayern, breaking a goal drought in six games in all competitions. On October 5, in the third round of the Champions League group stage, Mane scored the first Champions League goal of Bayern's career, becoming the fourth African player in history to score 25 goals in the Champions League, and assisted Sane's goal to help the team win 5-0 against Pilsen. On October 18, Mane ranked 2nd in the 2022 Golden Globe Awards and was awarded the Socrates Prize. On October 29, in the 12th round of the Bundesliga, Mane scored 1 shot and 2 passes, and Bayern were directly involved in 3 goals in a single game for the first time in his career, helping the team to a 6-2 victory over Mainz. On November 9, Bayern officially announced that Mane suffered a right fibula injury.
National team career
On 25 March 2012, Mane made his debut for the Senegal national football team in a friendly match between Senegal and Morocco and contributed one assist to help the team win 1–0. On 2 June, Senegal beat Liberia 3–1 in World Cup qualifiers, with Mane scoring his first goal for his country in the 83rd minute.
In July 2012, Mane was named in Senegal's Olympic squad for London 2012 and reached the quarter-finals with the team, appearing as a starter in all four matches.
In January 2015, Mane represented Senegal at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea, where Senegal finished third in the group with 1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss and 4 points, and Mane made 2 appearances in this tournament.
In January 2017, Mane represented Senegal at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon, scoring one goal each against Zimbabwe and Tunisia in the group stage. Senegal played Cameroon in the quarter-final, and Mane missed the ball in a penalty shoot-out, and the team stopped in the quarter-finals. Mane made three appearances and scored one goal in the tournament.
In June 2018, Mane represented Senegal at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, scoring one goal in Senegal's 2-2 draw with Japan in the second round of the group stage. Senegal finished third in the group stage with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss with 4 points, finishing third in the group. Mane made three appearances and scored one goal in the tournament.
Mane represented Senegal at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations Egypt in June 2019, where he scored twice against Kenya in the second round of the group stage. In the final, Senegal lost 1-0 to Algeria and finished runner-up. Mane made six appearances in the tournament, scoring three goals and being named in the tournament's squad.
On 10 January 2022, in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage match against Zimbabwe, Mane scored from the penalty spot in the 97th minute to help his team win 1-0. On 3 February, in the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations against Burkina Faso, Mane contributed a pass to help the team win and became Senegal's all-time top scorer with 29 national goals. On 6 February, in the AFC final against Egypt, Mane missed a penalty in the 7th minute, but scored in the fifth round of the penalty shootout to help the team win 4-2, winning the African Cup of Nations for the first time in the team's history and being named to the AFC All-Team team.
On March 30, 2022, Mane scored the winning penalty in the second leg of the third round of the World Cup African qualifiers, helping his team to advance to the World Cup finals after a 4-2 victory over Egypt on penalties. On 5 June, Mane scored a hat-trick in the first single game of his career in a Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Benin, helping his team win 3-1 and surpassing Henri Camara with 32 goals to become Senegal's all-time top scorer. On 25 September, in a friendly against Bolivia, Mane scored a penalty to give Senegal a 2-0 victory. On November 11, Mane was named in Senegal's 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with an injury. On November 18, the Senegalese national team officially reported that Mane withdrew from the Senegal World Cup squad due to his inability to recover in time.