Senegal's 5-0 win over Iraq turns on a red card and a ruthless second half

Senegal beat Iraq 5-0 in Toronto on 2026-5-0, and the shape of the match changed in the 13th minute when Rebin Sulaka was sent off for holding Sadio Mané and denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Habib Diarra had already put Senegal ahead inside four minutes, but the dismissal gave the rest of the evening a different feel. By the end, Pape Gueye, Ismaïla Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye had all added to the scoreline.

Senegal's attacking depth after the dismissal

Gueye was the standout. He came off the bench, scored 89 seconds after his introduction, then added a second in the 71st minute. His 9.6 rating was the highest in the match, and he did all of that in 38 minutes, which is about as sharp a substitute impact as Senegal could have asked for.

Sarr gave the performance a more rounded edge. He finished with one goal and one assist, while Ndiaye added Senegal's fifth in the 82nd minute after coming off the bench. That left Senegal with three different attackers directly shaping the final scoreline after the red card had stretched Iraq beyond its breaking point.

The asterisk some will raise

The obvious pushback is that the game was heavily altered by Sulaka's dismissal, and that is fair. Senegal still had to finish the chances, though, and they did it with pace, depth and enough bite to make the margin uncomfortable for Iraq long after the match had gone beyond rescue.

Pape Thiaw said after the game: "The Lions of Teranga understood the assignment and went on to record the biggest win by an African nation at a World Cup." RTÉ's match report also described Sarr, Gueye and Ndiaye as the decisive attacking trio.

Senegal's goal difference moved to +2, enough to leapfrog South Korea and Scotland in the best third-placed teams standings, but whether progress is already secured was not settled across the match reports. What is clear is that Senegal finish this game with a 5-0 result, a red-card turning point and a substitute who changed the night in 38 minutes.