Senegal’s World Cup journey ended in painful fashion after Belgium produced a remarkable late comeback to beat the Lions of Teranga 3-2 after extra time in Seattle on Wednesday.
Pape Thiaw’s side looked on course for a famous round-of-32 victory after goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaïla Sarr gave them a 2-0 lead with only five minutes of normal time remaining.
But Belgium, who appeared to be heading out of the tournament, found a way back through Romelu Lukaku in the 86th minute before Youri Tielemans equalised three minutes later. The match then went into extra time, where Senegal came desperately close to forcing penalties.
Instead, Tielemans scored from the spot deep into stoppage time after a VAR review to complete a dramatic Belgian comeback and send Senegal out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. For African audiences, it was one of the most painful exits of the tournament, with Senegal so close to adding another major knockout victory to the continent’s campaign.
Completely devastated, the Lions’ midfielder, who scored the first goal of the match, reflected on the
cruel defeat against Belgium in the round of 32 of the World Cup (3-2).Habib Diarra, speaking to New World TV on Senegal’s defeat against Belgium: “We had a good first half, but it wasn’t enough. Matches last 90 minutes, normally. We’re very disappointed.
“We’re devastated. It’s very tough. The substitutions? I can’t say anything about that. We have to sacrifice ourselves when we’re on the pitch. That’s not what we did. We only have ourselves to blame. The penalty? I prefer not to talk about the referee.”
