Belgium completes late rally vs. Senegal, will return to Seattle

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Jul 1, 2026

Published in Soccer

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SEATTLE — Math in sports sometimes doesn’t make sense.

For example, how can 85 minutes of dominance be replaced and overshadowed by less than 180 seconds of pure chaos? And then again by a video review that was finally decided in the 122nd minute or a goal scored at 124 minutes, 44 seconds — the latest goal in FIFA Men’s World Cup history — for a match that should have only lasted 120 minutes?

We should be writing about Senegal, the small country on the western coast of Africa, advancing to the round of 16 of the World Cup. But we’re not, because despite being the better team and for the most part using its youth, quickness and cleverness to control most of its match, all it took only one three-minute stretch to see it all collapse.

Instead, it’s Belgium that is moving on. Outclassed for most of the afternoon, the Belgians scored twice in the dying minutes of the match, then were the beneficiary of a video review in the final moments of extra time that led to a penalty kick.

Youri Tielemans converted the penalty that was finally taken in the 125th minute of the match and gave Belgium a controversial 3-2 win over Senegal on Wednesday afternoon at Seattle Stadium.

Never before has a goal been scored later than Tielemans decisive penalty across the history of the tournament. Belgium became only the second team in the past 11 World Cups to trail by multiple goals after halftime and rally to win.

The other team to do it? That was Belgium, in 2018 against Japan in the round of 16, a match that also finished 3-2.

Belgium’s reward will keep it back at its base camp in Renton, Wash., for a few more days. Belgium will face either the United States or Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 16 next Monday night with the winner earning a spot in the quarterfinals.

But it came after a video review by on-field referee that Said Martinez and VAR official Guillermo Pacheco that awarded Belgium a disputed penalty.

While most of the focus was on Belgium’s Dodi Lukebakio sending an open attempt over the crossbar in the 117th minute, officials went back to look at Tielemans getting clipped by Lamine Camara in the penalty area earlier in the play.

Martinez eventually awarded the penalty and Tielemans converted to give Belgium a victory it for the most part did not deserve.

The first of two knockout stage matches to be played in Seattle delivered on nearly every storyline. Underdog Senegal was the better side for most of the match and deservedly led 2-0. Habib Diarra scored in the first half on a rebound and Ismaila Sarr scored a spectacular goal in the opening minutes of the second half.

Senegal looked content to play out the final minutes as Belgium failed to find answers how to break down the Senegalese defense. Chances had been few; dangerous looks at goal almost nonexistent.

And then it all changed in just three minutes. Romelu Lukaku, the burly long-time striker for Belgium, redirected a pass from Thomas Meunier past Senegal goalkeeper Mory Diaw in the 86th minute. It was Lukaku’s second goal of the tournament and the seventh World Cup goal in his career.

Three minutes later, with Belgium desperate for an answer, one arrived. Leandro Trossard, Belglum’s best player in the tournament, lofted a tempting ball into the penalty area. Diaw came to meet it, but his punch whiffed and the ball found the head of Tielemans for his 14th career goal for the national team.

Suddenly a crowd filled mostly with neutral fans and had thrown their support behind Senegal were cheering for Belgium and a valiant comeback that forced 30 minutes of extra time.

Those same fans, though, were unleashing boos 30 minutes later at the eventual penalty decision. Only the Belgium fans in red were cheering when Tielemans shot found the net. Chants of “Sen-e-gal” followed, but they were for naught as Senegal’s final free kick attempt long after extra time should have finished sailed high and wide.

The final result felt unjust for the Lions of Teranga, who were trying to join Morocco as the only other African nation to reach the round of 16 so far. Senegal survived arguably the toughest group in the tournament to reach the knockout stage and then for 85 minutes proved their worthiness. They were quicker, more dynamic and left Belgium searching for answers.

Unfortunately for Senegal, the Belgians found those answers just in time and added a new, unexpected chapter to its World Cup history.

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