Senegal put five past 10-man Iraq to ignite hopes of making World Cup knockout stages

[p][b]Knowing that any chance of knockout stage qualification required not only three points, but victory by a healthy margin, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/senegal/hOIsJLJr/"]Senegal[/a] got straight to it, taking the lead inside four minutes when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/seck-abdoulaye/nLaO6snF/"]Abdoulaye Seck[/a] powered [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/camara-lamine/boBGHitI/"]Lamine Camara[/a]’s corner goalward, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/diarra-habib/nFakLd1E/"]Habib Diarra[/a] getting a touch to help it in. [/b][/p][p]To make matters worse for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/iraq/K8aAGt6r/"]Iraq[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mane-sadio/xxskxOU0/"]Sadio Mane[/a] then got away from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sulaka-rebin/4bq1Llke/"]Rebin Sulaka[/a] but was subsequently pulled down, resulting in the awarding of a red card from referee Anthony Taylor. Luckily, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/basil-ahmed/SEkKyPPm/"]Ahmed Basil[/a] was on hand to tip away Mane’s resulting free-kick, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jakobs-ismail/0YpRCTwo/"]Ismail Jakobs[/a]’ shot from the edge of the area faded wide.[/p][p]However, the rest of the half was surprisingly comfortable for Iraq, who even managed to foray forward themselves from time to time.[/p][p][b]But Senegal were determined to make it a long second half for the Lions of Mesopotamia, squandering a pair of chances before Camara broke through on the left side of the box and squared it to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sarr-ismaila/ll2uTDkB/"]Ismaila Sarr[/a], who nipped in front of his marker and prodded into the empty net to double the lead.[/b][/p][p]And just moments passed before Senegal struck again, squaring their all-important goal difference back to zero when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gueye-pape/p6rsDQvN/"]Pape Gueye[/a] sent a thunderous left-footed strike into the top corner, replicating his goal in the controversial 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.[/p][p]Pape Gueye had only just entered the fray when scoring that goal, and a little over 10 more minutes passed before he doubled his personal tally. He picked it up from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ndiaye-iliman/Im0c6Oy7/"]Iliman Ndiaye[/a] on the edge of the area and blazed one into the corner with replacement goalkeeper [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hachim-jalal/8AvSMuAq/"]Jalal Hassan[/a] unsighted.[/p][p][b]Mane then chipped onto the post, before another substitute got in on the act as Ndiaye drove forward and fired it into the near top corner, capping off a ruthless display from Pape Thiaw’s men.[/b][/p][image alt="Senegal's Iliman Ndiaye celebrates scoring their fifth goal" id="3e0e266a-8615-4666-abce-8fef40a06f72" credit-line="Reuters / Piroschka Van De Wouw" guid="bbcace0d-aa06-488b-83fc-9352aedbb8a0" original-width="1650" original-height="2053" /][p]It's the biggest ever win by an African nation at a WC and places Senegal in fifth – as high as they could have hoped for ahead of this match – in the table of third-placed sides, but with five other groups still to play, remaining in the top eight is far from a foregone conclusion.[/p][p]Iraq, in the experienced hands of Graham Arnold, defied odds to get here for just a second time, but they’ll still be disappointed to remain without a point in WC group-stage action.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gueye-pape/p6rsDQvN/"]Pape Gueye[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/senegal/hOIsJLJr/"]Senegal[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/iraq-K8aAGt6r/senegal-hOIsJLJr/summary/stats/?mid=j5IhOwop"]Catch up on the match stats with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="5067c909-8451-494d-a785-439b3f0c38e4" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="41927887-2637-409a-80c4-fbab0ad14e9d" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /]