Senegal just did something no African nation has ever done at a men’s World Cup: put five goals past an opponent in a single match.
The 5-0 thrashing of Iraq on June 26 at Toronto Stadium wasn’t just a comfortable Group I victory. It was a statement performance that rewrites a record stretching back decades, across every World Cup tournament Africa has ever participated in.
How the rout unfolded
Senegal made their intentions clear from the opening whistle. Habib Diarra found the net in just the 4th minute, setting the tone for what would become a thoroughly one-sided affair.
Iraq’s task went from difficult to nearly impossible in the 13th minute, when defender Rebin Sulaka was shown a red card. Playing with ten men for roughly 80 minutes of a World Cup match against a side as athletic and technically gifted as Senegal is, to put it gently, not ideal.
