Édouard Mendy vs Kalidou Koulibaly
Senegal against Senegal. The almanac states its case, the crowd votes, you decide.
Édouard Mendy
Senegal · 2014–25 · GK
- Almanac rating
- 86
- Rank in Senegal
- #4 of 33
- Caps
- 57 · 0 goals
- Clubs
- Stade de Reims, Chelsea, Al Ahli
He was twenty-two in 2014, out of the game after leaving Cherbourg, drawing unemployment benefit in France and looking for work outside football. By 2022 he was an African champion and a European one, with Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations and Chelsea's 2021 Champions League as the first African goalkeeper to lift it, and he added the AFC Champions League Elite with Al-Ahli in 2025 and FIFA's goalkeeper of the year for 2021. Career record: 57 caps and 0 goals for Senegal; club career at Stade de Reims, Chelsea, Al Ahli.
Kalidou Koulibaly
Senegal · 2002–24 · CB
- Almanac rating
- 89
- Rank in Senegal
- #2 of 33
- Caps
- 103 · 2 goals
- Clubs
- K.R.C. Genk, SSC Napoli, Al Hilal SFC
Two minutes after Moisés Caicedo levelled for Ecuador on 29 November 2022, Koulibaly answered with a volley that carried Senegal into a World Cup last sixteen for the first time since 2002. He was the captain who lifted Senegal's first Africa Cup of Nations in 2022, won the Coppa Italia with Napoli in 2020 and the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal in 2024, and made the Serie A Team of the Year four seasons running. Career record: 103 caps and 2 goals for Senegal; club career at K.R.C. Genk, SSC Napoli, Al Hilal SFC.
The verdict
The almanac puts Kalidou Koulibaly ahead by 3 rating points, 89 against 86.
Fans have not settled this one yet. Cast the first vote in the duels.