Senegal's 1-0 victory over France in the FIFA World Cup opener in 2002 remains the most significant African result in the tournament and the continent's defining hour at the competition.
However, a repeat result in Tuesday's rematch between the two would no longer be considered a seismic upset, such has been the Teranga Lions' growth over the last quarter century.
As Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw said on Monday, the shift in perception is partly due to the continental's overall sporting development since 2002, but also the unique progress made by the West African side.
"For some people, it may be a surprise, but for me it's not, because African football has changed a lot in recent years," he told journalists.
"We saw it during the last World Cup, with Morocco in the semifinals, so it's not a surprise anymore.
"I hope this year two African teams will face each other in the quarterfinal, or even the semifinal."
However, the reason 2002 still stands above every other African World Cup moment or result is because of the context. Senegal were not merely underdogs, they were World Cup debutants, utterly untested at this level. Ahead of them, stood France; reigning champions, but not just any reigning champions.
At the turn of the millennium, France were arguably the strongest national team on the planet. They'd followed up their success at the 1998 World Cup on home soil with victory at Euro 2000, and their squad was packed with elite talent.
Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Sylvain Wiltord and David Trezeguet were all in their prime, the likes of Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram and Bixente Lizarazu represented an experienced, world-class defensive unit, while the squad appeared to have enough attacking talent to replace the injured Zinedine Zidane.
These two sides knew each other intimately, because all but two of the squad plied their trade in France, and were overseen by a French head coach in Nord-born Bruno Metsu.
"For us, it wasn't like we played against world champions," Salif Diao told the Independent in 2018. "It was like we were playing against friends."
It wasn't simply a football match between two nations, but a meeting between former colonial ruler and their former colony. It was France against footballers shaped by French academies, French clubs and French football culture. The colonial dimension elevates the result beyond a simple sporting upset.
When Papa Bouba Diop scrambled home the winner and danced in celebration around the Senegal kit at the corner flag with his teammates, it was an instantly iconic World Cup moment. It's an image that endures.
Senegal went on to reach the quarters, becoming the first African team in 12 years - since Cameroon in 1990 - to make it to the last eight.
Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, and even Cape Verde on Monday, may claim to have been responsible for Africa's greatest World Cup result, but their claims cannot stand up to Senegal. The strongest rival is surely Cameroon's 1-0 victory over Diego Maradona's reigning champions Argentina in 1990.
Like Senegal-France, it was the tournament opener, and like the Teranga Lions, they certainly shocked the world. Like Senegal, Cameroon backed it up by reaching the quarter finals, the first African side to do so. They were the continental pioneers for the breaching unchartered territory in the World Cup.
However, Senegal's win still edges it because of circumstances and context. Argentina were champions in 1990, but not the dominant force France were in 2002. Cameroon already had the experience that Senegal did not; they'd previously featured at the 1982 tournament in Spain, where they had been eliminated without losing any of their three group games.
The colonial narrative and the concentration of Senegalese players in France gives the '02 more historical resonance than Francois Omam-Biyik and his magnificent header to beat the despairing Nery Pumpido in the 1990 opener. Similarly, while Senegal were capable of exhilarating football, notably on the counter, via El Hadji Diouf or as encapsulated in the wonder goal scored by Diao against Denmark, Cameroon victory over Argentina was due in no small part to a physically confrontational and fiercely aggressive approach to neutralising their opponents.
Could a case be made for Ghana in 2010? Reaching the quarterfinals in South Africa was an exceptional achievement, particularly as the Black Stars - the pioneers of PanAfricanism during the Independence era - were carrying the continent's expectations as Africa's sole representatives at the first tournament on African soil following from the end of the group-stage onwards.
Their dramatic defeat by Uruguay - with Luis Suarez's handball on the line at the death, and Asamoah Gyan's agonising penalty miss - surely the most vivid, heartbreaking, intoxicating moments experienced by an African team at the World Cup.
That fine Ghana team beat the United States with a Gyan extra-time goal in the last 16 to reach the quarters, but their defining memory remains that Uruguay elimination, rather than any striking result or transformative impact of Senegal or Cameroon.
The case for Morocco in 2022 is different. In Qatar, they became the first African and the first Arab nation to reach a World Cup semifinal, defeating Belgium in the group before ousting Spain and Portugal in successive knockout rounds. In terms of sustained excellence, and the pinnacle of technical performance and match control, it's Africa's greatest World Cup campaign.
Morocco changed the perception of what Africa could achieve through tactical sophistication, unity and an excellent defence, and fully deserved their semifinal spot. Morocco broke new ground, but their performance was cumulative; in 90 minutes in Seoul, a debut nation rewrote football history.
The Atlas Lions may be African football's greatest tournament, but Senegal-France remains Africa's greatest result.
Finally, Cape Verde's 0-0 draw with Spain on Monday may deserve some consideration. This too was the islanders' World Cup debut, against the tournament favourites no less. They're also one of the tiniest nations ever to qualify for the competition - with a population of just over half a million - and the disparity in football heritage and clout between the two nations is enormous.
Yet, Spain, however strong, do not carry the same symbolic weight for Cape Verde that France do for Senegal. The difference between a 0-0 draw - however heroic - and a 1-0 victory is also significant, while it remains to be seen whether the Sharks' point on Monday is the start of a remarkable tournament run or merely the highlight of a brief debut campaign.
What's fascinating now is that, approaching Tuesday's rematch, Senegal no longer view a win over France through a lens of miracle, or even with the emotional frame of 24 years ago.
"Would it be a surprise if Senegal beat France?" Thiaw asked. "No, because we have world class players on our team and we're the champions of Africa.
"They have been in two finals over the last decade, won one and lost one, been top of the FIFA rankings, but we are champions of Africa, with our status as a major team with world class players.
"Of course, the game between France and Senegal is very symbolic, it represents a lot, but we'll stick to sport to win this one, we are playing because we want to win."
In 2002, such confidence would have been unthinkable, today, it feels par for the course. Senegal have now qualified for three consecutive World Cups and reached three of the last four AFCON finals, winning two. Their squad is filled with players from Europe's major leagues, while Champions League-winning talisman Sadio Mané is one of the continent's all-time greats and a former CAF Footballer of the Year.
The gap that once existed between African contenders and the traditional powers of world football has narrowed dramatically.
"2002 is gone and we're not playing history on the pitch anymore," Thiaw added.
"We did win in 2002, and I don't know if it's going to be revenge anymore or not, but we've prepared well - as for any match - and we want to get all three points."
Even France's own players recognise the significance of the fixture without considering it a David vs Goliath-esque struggle as had been the case two and a half decades ago.
"I have Malian roots and origins, but today I represent France and have done for many years," said N'Golo Kante, when asked about the importance for him of playing a West African nation at the World Cup.
"In 2002, we were spectators, and saw what happened when Senegal beat France.
"[On Tuesday], we'll be actors, not spectators. It's not about revenge, it's about going as far as possible in this tournament."
It's why Senegal-France 2002 remains unmatched and is a moment that cannot be recaptured.
It was not simply the biggest upset, nor the greatest African victory, but it was a moment when football intersected with geopolitics, history and identity, when a World Cup debutant defeated the champions, when a former colony defeated its former colonial power.
24 years on, and the legacy is visible, with African nations no longer arriving at the World Cup just hoping to pull off a result or two and maybe squeeze into the knockouts.
That's the ultimate legacy of Senegal's finest hour. They proved that what was once unimaginable could become the norm, that unbalanced dynamics could become equal standards.
If they beat France again on Tuesday, no one in Senegal will call it a miracle.