Five-star Senegal Keep World Cup Hopes Alive and Send Iraq Home

Senegal kept their World Cup knockout aspirations alive on Friday, securing a commanding 5-0 victory against a 10-man Iraq side that was subsequently eliminated from the tournament. Both teams entered the match with their survival on the line, needing a significant win to advance to the round of 32.

The match took a decisive turn in the first half when Iraq's defender Rebin Sulaka was shown a red card after a VAR review for pulling down Sadio Mane on the edge of the box. Despite being a man down, Iraq showed some attacking intent before halftime, but Senegal failed to capitalize on the advantage, with efforts from Ismail Jakobs and Mane going wide.

Senegal emerged for the second half with renewed urgency and converted their advantage into goals. Lamine Camara's corner kick led to Abdoulaye Seck's header finding the net early in the game. The scoring continued in the second half with Ismaila Sarr netting his fourth career World Cup goal, becoming Senegal's all-time leading scorer in the tournament. Substitute Pape Gueye added two impressive long-range goals, and Iliman Ndiaye sealed the five-star performance with another strike from distance.

With this victory, Senegal finished third in Group I with three points, trailing France and Norway. Iraq concluded the group stage at the bottom with zero points. Senegal now faces a tense wait until Saturday to see if they will qualify for the next round as one of the eight best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout stage.

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Senegal! Senegal!