World Cup: Senegal Hit Five Past Iraq After Early Red Card

Record-breaking Senegal beat Iraq, wait on knockout fate

Abdoulaye Seck opened the scoring before Rebin Sulaka’s red changed the game. Senegal made it count with five goals to boost their knockout stage chances at the FIFA World Cup.

Senegal thump 10-man Iraq 5-0 to boost World Cup knockout hopes...

Senegal must now wait to see if they advance from Group I after a 5-0 rout of Iraq, who remain without a point and have lost all six of their matches at the FIFA World Cup finals.

Needing a big win to have any chance of reaching the knockout rounds, Senegal started fast. Abdoulaye Seck met Lamine Camara’s corner with power in the fourth minute, and Habib Diarra’s touch nudged it over the line to open the scoring.

Iraq’s task got even harder when Sadio Mane slipped past Rebin Sulaka and was brought down, leaving referee Anthony Taylor no choice but to show red. Ahmed Basil did well to push Mane’s free-kick away, and Ismail Jakobs’ strike from outside the box drifted just wide.

After that, Iraq settled and the period was unexpectedly steady for them, with occasional ventures upfield of their own.

But Senegal were intent on making the second half miserable for the Lions of Mesopotamia. After wasting two opportunities, Camara drove in from the left of the area and cut it back for Ismaila Sarr, who got ahead of his defender and tapped into an open goal to make it 2-0.

Senegal added another almost immediately to bring their goal difference back to level. Pape Gueye fired a powerful left-footed effort into the top corner, echoing his strike in the disputed 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.

Gueye had only just come on when he scored, and a little over 10 minutes later he had a second. He picked up Iliman Ndiaye’s pass on the edge of the box and rifled it into the corner with substitute goalkeeper Jalal Hassan unable to see the shot.

Mane then clipped one onto the post, and another replacement made his mark as Ndiaye surged forward and drilled it into the near top corner to finish off a dominant outing for Pape Thiaw’s side.

It’s the largest World Cup victory ever by an African team, and it lifts Senegal to fifth in the third-place standings - the best they could realistically expect before kickoff. With five groups still to finish, though, staying inside the top eight is anything but guaranteed.

Under veteran coach Graham Arnold, Iraq beat the odds just to qualify for only their second World Cup. Still, they will be frustrated to end the group stage without a single point.