After leading 2-0 for more than 85 minutes, Senegal suffered a heartbreaking collapse as Belgium mounted a stunning comeback to win 3-2 after extra time.
The Teranga Lions started brilliantly and dominated the match, with Habib Diarra opening the scoring in the 24th minute before Ismaila Sarr doubled the advantage in the 51st minute.
But with just five minutes remaining, Belgium hit back through Romelu Lukaku in the 85th minute before Youri Tielemans levelled the score in the 89th minute to force extra time.
The first half of extra time ended scoreless, but in the second half, Tielemans converted a dramatic penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to seal victory after a controversial decision by the referee following a VAR review.
It was a cruel ending for the Teranga Lions, who were just minutes away from reaching the Round of 16. Senegal head coach Papa Thiaw described the defeat as unfortunate.
“We have just lost this match that we held dear, that we really wanted to qualify for the Senegalese people who deserved it. And unfortunately, we are eliminated. I am sad and also the players are sad because they really wanted this qualification, but unfortunately, it didn’t happen.”
On conceding twice in five minutes, Thiaw said: “For sure, we had the match in the bag. We were winning two-nil, and then we dropped back a bit towards the end because I think that we wanted to hold onto the score. And once we conceded the first one, the two-one goal, we dropped back even more and they scored their second goal. It wasn’t easy. And we tried to lift, erm, morale and give, erm, more energy to the team, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
Meanwhile, in the Round of 16, Belgium will face the USA, who also defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0.
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