Senegal overwhelmed Iraq 5-0 on June 26 at Toronto Stadium in their final Group I World Cup match, keeping their hopes alive of qualifying for the knockout stage as one of the eight best third-placed teams [1, 2]. Iraq played with 10 men after receiving a red card in the 13th minute, which contributed to their heavy loss [3, 4, 5].
Senegal came into the match on zero points, after losses to France (3-1) and Norway (3-2), making victory against Iraq essential to stay in the tournament [6, 7]. Iraq was already eliminated and bottom of the group after losing to France (3-0) and Norway, having conceded 12 goals in total amid defensive mistakes [6, 8, 3, 4, 9]. Iraq coach Graham Arnold said before the match, "Iraq has never got a point at the World Cup, so we go for that history moment tomorrow" [8].
Despite missing injured first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, Senegal took control of the match early and finished with their biggest-ever World Cup win by an African team [6, 10, 1]. Midfielder Pape Gueye scored twice and winger Sadio Mane was praised for his team spirit by Senegal coach Pape Bouna Thiaw [1, 2]. Thiaw said, "Even though we scored five goals, there are still improvements to be made" and added, "This country behind us brings a lot, and we give our all to make them happy" [1]. Before the tournament, Senegal faced internal financial and administrative challenges, including delayed salary payments and changes in football federation leadership [11].
Iraq showed resilience despite their early elimination. Arnold noted, "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" [3]. His contract is due to end about six weeks after the World Cup, with decisions on his future pending [8, 9].
Senegal finished third in Group I behind France and Norway after the win [1, 2]. The team now awaits results from other groups to learn if they advance as one of the best third-placed teams [6, 1].
