Belgium were four minutes from elimination in normal time, two goals down to Senegal and running out of ways to turn possession into danger. Then the match flipped so violently that Senegal never got it back.
Romelu Lukaku pulled Belgium within one in the 86th minute, Youri Tielemans headed in the equalizer three minutes later, and Tielemans converted a 120th-minute stoppage-time penalty to complete a 3-2 win after extra time in the World Cup Round of 32.
Senegal had built the kind of lead that should have carried them into the quarterfinals. Habib Diarra opened the scoring in the 25th minute from close range, and Ismaïla Sarr doubled it in the 51st after Moussa Niakhaté split Belgium with a through ball. At 2-0, the match belonged to Senegal’s speed and Belgium’s frustration.
The comeback started with the bench. Lukaku replaced Charles De Ketelaere at halftime, Thomas Meunier came on in the 78th, and both were involved when Belgium finally broke through. Meunier’s cross found Lukaku near the right side of the six-yard box, and the finish changed the temperature of the final minutes.
Three minutes later, Tielemans turned Leandro Trossard’s delivery into the equalizer. Senegal, who had looked organized for most of the match, suddenly had to survive extra time instead of closing out a win.
Belgium survive the match Senegal had controlled
The numbers were as tight as the score. Both teams finished with 19 shots and five on target. Belgium had 52.2 percent possession, Senegal had 47.8, and the margins narrowed into a few late penalty-area decisions. Lamine Camara’s foul on Tielemans in the 117th minute gave Belgium the opening, and a VAR review confirmed the penalty.
Tielemans sent the kick into the top right corner in the 120th minute plus five, ending a match that had already tested both teams’ legs and nerve. Belgium still had to play through 12 minutes of added time at the end of extra time, but Senegal never found a third answer.
For Senegal, the exit will sting because so much of the plan worked. They had entered the tournament as one of the dangerous sides in a difficult section, part of the same World Cup group-of-death debate that framed France, Senegal and Norway as a brutal draw. For 85 minutes here, they looked ready to turn that edge into a quarterfinal place.
Belgium instead join the quarterfinal field after a comeback that matched the chaos of England’s late escape earlier in the round, when Harry Kane rescued England against DR Congo. Belgium’s route was even thinner. Down two, level by the 89th, alive after extra time. That was the entire season of a knockout match compressed into one night.
