Senegal needed a victory by a wide margin in their last match for the 9th group of the World Cup and they achieved it with flying colors! The Africans crushed Iraq 5-0 in Toronto, taking their first 3 points of the tournament, but these are expected to prove to be enough in the “race” for the best third place, as Senegal’s goal difference (8-6 goals) is the highest.

The truth is that the circumstances were extremely favorable to Pape Thio’s team, who before the first quarter was over found themselves ahead and with a numerical advantage. In the 4th minute, Abdoulaye Cheikh executed the corner kick and Habib Diarra headed home the 1-0. A little later, Sulaka brought down Mane, who was in an obvious position to score, just outside the Iraqi area. A red card, after a VAR review in the 13th minute, for the Iraqi defender and the path to qualification was now wide open for the Senegalese.

In the 56th minute, Ismaila Sarr made it 2-0, scoring for the 3rd consecutive match. Then it was time for Pape Gueye, who came on as a substitute in the 56th minute and scored two amazing goals in the 59th and 71st minutes, leaving his mark on the match. In the 81st minute, Entiaye scored another spectacular goal to seal the final 5-0, which is Senegal’s largest victory in a World Cup match.

 Referee: Anthony Taylor (England) 
 Yellow cards: Gueye, Sek – Alamari, Doski
 Red card: Soulaka (13′)

 The lineups of the two teams:
SENEGAL (Pape Thio): Dio, Seck, Jacobs, Diatta, Niacate, Gueye, Lamine Camara (56′ Jackson), Diarra (56′ Pape Guey), Mane, Sarr (81′ Diao), Baye (56′ Entiaye)

IRAQ (Graham Arnold): Basil (46′ Jalal Hassan), Sulaka, Hashim, Doski, Putros, Bayesh, Iqbal (67′ Yacob), Alamari, Alhamadi, Qassem (16′ Yunus), Yasim