Senegal beat Iraq 5-0 in Toronto, ending Iraq's first World Cup in 40 years without a point. A 13th-minute red card for Rebin Sulaka shaped the result. Coach Graham Arnold said Iraq should still feel proud.
Senegal beat Iraq 5-0 in Toronto, ending Iraq's first World Cup in 40 years without a point. A 13th-minute red card for Rebin Sulaka shaped the result. Coach Graham Arnold said Iraq should still feel proud.
Iraq arrived at their final group match already on the brink. Only a victory against Senagal and favourable results elsewhere could keep their hopes alive. But that narrow path closed quickly in Toronto!
Habib Diarra had already nodded Senegal ahead inside four minutes, glancing a header home in front of a lively BMO Field crowd. Then came the moment that settled everything. On 13 minutes Rebin Sulaka hauled at Sadio Mané's shirt as the forward broke clear and the referee reached for a yellow, but after VAR consultation, he came back with red. Down to ten with more than 75 minutes still to play, Iraq dug in stubbornly and somehow reached half-time only one goal behind.
It could not hold. Ismaïla Sarr made it two on 56 minutes, and Pape Guèye, barely on the pitch as a substitute, needed about 90 seconds to make it three. He struck again on 71, a fierce drive clocked at 132km/h. Iliman Ndiaye rounded things off on 82. Mané, denied a goal of his own, rattled the upright with a looping effort. Five without reply made it the biggest win by an African nation at a men's World Cup in front of a crowd in which Iraqi fans heavily outnumbered Senegalese supporters.
Coach Pape Thiaw was pleased and careful. "Even though we scored five goals, there are still improvements to be made," he said.
Iraq lost all three group matches and finished bottom with no points, conceding 12 goals. The outcome mirrors Mexico's 1986 tournament, Iraq's only previous World Cup, when they also lost all three group games. Graham Arnold refused to frame the campaign as a failure. "Everyone in Iraq should be proud of the fact that we made it here and we performed very well in two out of the three games," he said.
Arnold's contract with the Iraq Football Association expires this summer. President Younis Mahmoud said the federation was working to extend the deal rather than seek a replacement. Among fans, attention has already turned towards 2030.
Senegal's win lifted them to third on plus two goal difference, enough to secure a ticket to the knockout stage, where they face Belgium.
