Senegal kept its hopes of reaching the knockouts alive on Friday with a comprehensive 5-0 win over Iraq in Toronto.It was the result the team needed as it moved the Lions of Teranga into third place in Group I; now it must wait for the remaining groups to finish before it knows for certain whether it is one of the top eight third-place teams at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. Senegal will leave the game at least knowing it did everything it could today to give itself its best chance to advance.Here are my thoughts on the game.1. Perfect Start For Senegal (Photo by Ezra Shaw – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Senegal and Iraq came into this game without a point as both lost to France and Norway. This expanded version of the tournament is more forgiving as eight of 12 third-place teams advance to the round of 32. To have any chance of getting there, however, both teams knew they had to win, likely by a lot of goals, to improve their goal differential tiebreaker.After just a few minutes, it became clear that Senegal was likely going to win this game. The biggest question was whether it could dramatically improve its goal differential to the point where it was the top third-place finisher with three points.Senegal got the start it needed when Habib Diarra headed home a corner kick in just the fourth minute.Habib Diarra gives Senegal early lead with goal vs Iraq | 2026 FIFA World Cup In the 13th minute, Iraq defender Rebin Sulaka was judged to have brought down former Liverpool forward Sadio Mané, who had a clear path to goal. After a long VAR review, it was determined that Sulaka fouled Mané by pulling his shirt from behind in what was a denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. By rule, Sulaka was then sent off.With the game still in its early stages, Senegal was up a goal and up a man in a game it needed to win likely by a large margin. The start could not have gone any better for Senegal, which now seemed to be off to the races.2. Red Card Decreased First-Falf Intensity (Photo by Vaughn Ridley – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) After the red card, the entire flow of the game changed. Despite being up a man, the Lions of Teranga were lacking in both the urgency and execution they showed earlier in the game. Immediately after the red card, Mané had a free kick that was well saved by Iraqi goalkeeper Ahmed Basil Fadhil (who would later leave the game with an injury).After that, Senegal did not have another shot on target the rest of the…
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2026-06-26 22:36:04
