Senegal 5-0 Iraq: Teranga Lions claim a big win but their qualification not secured yet

Senegal boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup after thumping 10-man Iraq 5-0 at Toronto Stadium in their final Group I clash. 

Match Report 

Pape Gueye's extraordinary strikes in the second half followed goals from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr, while Iliman Ndiaye added a stunner of his own eight minutes from time. 

They currently sit fifth in the best third-placed teams table, and as it stands, a potential World Cup reunion with England awaits in Atlanta on July 1 in the next round. 

Senegal made the perfect start in the fourth minute when Idrissa Gueye's deflected shot went out for a corner, with the resulting set-piece seeing Abdoulaye Seck's header turned past Ahmed Basil by Diarra from close range. 

It went from bad to worse for Iraq nine minutes later when Rebin Sulaka was handed a straight red card for tugging back Sadio Mane and denying a goalscoring opportunity. 

But Senegal were unable to make their man advantage count ahead of half-time, with Mane seeing the free-kick he won pushed behind by Basil before the former Liverpool forward fired an effort over the crossbar in the first minute of stoppage time. 

Pape Thiaw's side flew out of the traps after the restart and got their second in the 56th minute. Zidane Iqbal had his pocket picked by Lamine Camara, with the Senegal midfielder powering into the penalty area before squaring for Sarr to score. 

And just three minutes later, Senegal pulled further clear after a piece of individual brilliance from Gueye, who flashed a stunning left-footed finish into the top-left corner just one minute and 29 seconds after replacing Diarra. 

But Gueye added another sensational strike to his tally in the 71st minute with another fierce drive past the hapless Jalal Hassan, and Ndiaye capped the five-star rout with a rifled shot in at the near post from just outside the box. 

Records tumble as Sarr, Gueye and Ndiaye make Senegal history

Following back-to-back defeats to France and Norway, Senegal knew that a top-two finish in Group I was beyond their reach, but with the possibility of reaching the knockout stages still within their hands, they delivered the perfect performance to improve those hopes.

This was the first time an African nation has ever scored five goals at a World Cup, and it was Senegal's big-name players who came to the fore. Sarr is now the outright top scorer (four goals) and has recorded the outright most goal involvements for his nation in the World Cup (five goals, one assist).

He also became the first Senegal player to both score and assist in a World Cup match, though he was quickly followed by Gueye and Ndiaye in achieving that. 

Gueye had started both of Senegal's first two group games but was dropped to the bench against Iraq. He responded in the perfect way, staking his claim for a starting spot in the next round by becoming the first player from Senegal to score at least two goals as a substitute at the World Cup.

But Ndiaye also made his mark off the bench. There have been four instances of a Senegal player coming on as a substitute to provide an assist at the World Cup, with three being the Everton midfielder. His three assists as a substitute are also the joint-most of any player at the World Cup, along with Cesc Fabregas.

Senegal were deserving winners, too. They finished with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.03 from their 28 shots to Iraq's 0.18 from their six attempts. 

Line-ups

Senegal XI: Gueye, Mory Diaw, Mane, Niakhate, Abdoulaye Seck, Sarr, Diatta, Ismail Jakobs, Habib Diarra, Lamine Camara, Mbaye

Subs: Koulibaly, Yehvann Diouf, Pape Gueye, Cherif Ndiaye, Pathé Ciss, Antoine Mendy, Iliman Ndiaye, Pape Sarr, Nicolas Jackson, Bamba Dieng, Mamadou Sarr, Assane Diao, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Bara Sapoko Ndiaye

Iraq XI: Rebin Sulaka, Frans Putros, Amir Al-Ammari, Ahmed Basil Fadhil, Ibrahim Bayesh, Ali Al-Hamadi, Ahmed Qasem, Zidane Iqbal, Merchas Doski, Akam Hashem, Ali Jasim

Subs: Jalal Hassan, Fahad Talib, Aymen Hussein, Ali Yousif, Mohanad Ali, Kevin Yakob, Hussein Ali, Aimar Sher, Marko Farji, Youssef Amyn, Ahmed Maknzi, Manaf Younis, Mustafa Saadoon, Zaid Tahseen, Zaid Ismail