The Sports Guru
Senegal arrived in Toronto needing not just a win but an emphatic one, and they delivered the most emphatic an African side has ever managed at a World Cup. This covers the 5-0 demolition of Iraq, the 13th-minute red card that broke the game open, and the prize that now looms into view for the Lions of Teranga: a probable round-of-32 meeting with England.
Some teams are told exactly what they need to do and find the demand too heavy. Senegal were told they needed to win, and win big, and treated the instruction as a challenge rather than a burden. They beat Iraq 5-0 in Toronto, the biggest win by an African nation in World Cup history, and in doing so hauled themselves back into contention for a place in the knockout rounds. Pape Gueye scored twice off the bench. A red card did much of the early damage. By the end, the only question was how many.
An early goal, then a red card that broke the game
Pape Thiaw's side got off to a flyer. Inside four minutes they were ahead, Sunderland's Habib Diarra getting the telling touch on Abdoulaye Seck's goalbound header to turn it over the line. The lead was barely settled when the game tilted decisively. Rebin Sulaka hauled Sadio Mane to ground 20 yards out and was initially shown a yellow card, only for referee Anthony Taylor to consult the pitchside monitor and upgrade it to red, judging that Sulaka had denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity. It left Iraq a goal down and a man light inside 13 minutes, a double blow that made them only the second side in World Cup history to concede and be reduced to ten inside the opening quarter of an hour, after Colombia against Japan in 2018.
To their credit, Iraq did not fold immediately. They reorganised, sending on Munaf Younus to shore up the back line, and held Senegal at arm's length for the rest of the first half. Aside from a Mane free-kick that was pushed brilliantly to safety by Basil, the Lions of Teranga barely laid a glove on their depleted opponents before the interval. The numerical advantage was there. The breakthrough that would turn it into a rout was not, at least not yet.
The second half when the floodgates opened
Iraq held firm for ten minutes after the restart, and then the dam broke. Substitute goalkeeper Jalal Hassan was beaten twice in the space of three minutes. First, on 56 minutes, Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr tapped in Lamine Camara's cut-back after a mistake by Zidane Iqbal. Then, just 89 seconds after coming on, Gueye curled in a beauty to make it three. It was the sort of immediate impact that makes a substitution look like clairvoyance, and Gueye was not finished. On 71 minutes he thumped in his second, a strike clocked at a top speed of 132 kilometres per hour, the kind of number that belongs in a different sport.
By now Senegal were playing with the freedom of a team that had shed its anxiety. Mane rattled the right-hand post with a looping effort on 75 minutes, denied a goal his performance deserved, before Everton's Iliman Ndiaye applied the gloss on 82 minutes, running 20 yards and thumping home another cracker that left Hassan helpless. Five goals, three of them strikes of genuine quality, and a goal difference transformed in the space of an afternoon. For a side that had lost its opening two games, it was the response of a team that refused to read its own obituary.
From the brink to a probable meeting with England
The context makes the scale of it clearer. Senegal and Iraq had both lost to Norway and France in their opening Group I fixtures, which meant only a heavy win would keep Senegal's hopes alive. They understood the assignment and answered it in full, giving themselves the best possible chance of finishing among the World Cup's top eight third-placed teams. With 11 group games still to be played, the picture can shift, but as things stand Senegal are on course for a round-of-32 tie that will quicken the pulse on both sides.
That tie, as it stands, would be against England. A Senegal side carrying the pace of Sarr, the craft of Ndiaye and the enduring threat of Mane is not the draw Thomas Tuchel's side would have chosen from the third-placed pool, and on this evidence nobody facing the Lions of Teranga will feel comfortable. Iraq, by contrast, leave Toronto with a heavy defeat and the frustration of a game that ran away from them the moment Anthony Taylor reached for his back pocket. Senegal will not care how the margin was helped along. They needed five, they got five, and they are still alive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Senegal beat Iraq 5-0 in their Group I match at Toronto Stadium, watched by 43,036. Habib Diarra opened the scoring inside four minutes, before Ismaila Sarr, a Pape Gueye double and Iliman Ndiaye completed the rout in the second half. Iraq played from the 13th minute with ten men after Rebin Sulaka was sent off. The result was the biggest win by an African nation in World Cup history.
Rebin Sulaka was sent off in the 13th minute for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. He brought down Sadio Mane around 20 yards from goal and was initially shown a yellow card, but referee Anthony Taylor reviewed the incident at the pitchside monitor and upgraded the punishment to red. The decision left Iraq a goal down and reduced to ten men, and they became only the second team in World Cup history to concede and receive a red card inside the opening 15 minutes.
Senegal's goals came from Habib Diarra, Ismaila Sarr, a double from substitute Pape Gueye and a late strike from Iliman Ndiaye. Gueye made an immediate impact, curling in his first just 89 seconds after coming on and later thumping in a second clocked at 132 kilometres per hour. Sadio Mane did not score but struck the post and forced a good early save, while several of the goals were finishes of real quality.
Not yet, but the win gives them a strong chance. Senegal needed a heavy victory to stay in contention after losing their opening two Group I games to Norway and France, and the 5-0 result leaves them well placed to finish among the World Cup's top eight third-placed teams. With 11 group games still to be played, the situation could change, but as things stand Senegal are on course to reach the round of 32.
As things stand, Senegal are projected to face England in the round of 32, though the matchup depends on results in the remaining group fixtures. With pace from Ismaila Sarr, creativity from Iliman Ndiaye and the experience of Sadio Mane, Senegal would be a difficult assignment for Thomas Tuchel's side. The picture is not yet settled, with 11 group games left to play, so the eventual opponent could change before the knockout draw is confirmed.
Sources: Final score, goalscorers and minutes, Diarra's opener from Seck's header, Sulaka's red card after Anthony Taylor's VAR review and the historical note on Colombia against Japan in 2018, Iraq bringing on Munaf Younus, Basil's save from Mane, substitute goalkeeper Jalal Hassan conceding to Sarr and Gueye, Gueye's double including the 132 kilometres per hour strike, Mane hitting the post, Ndiaye's late goal, the venue and attendance, the result being the biggest win by an African nation at a World Cup, Senegal and Iraq's earlier Group I defeats to Norway and France, Senegal's third-placed qualification hopes and the projected round-of-32 tie with England, all as reported in Sky Sports' coverage of Senegal 5-0 Iraq at the World Cup.
