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In the 86th minute, Senegal leads Belgium 2 0. One foot is already in the next round.
In the 86th minute, Senegal led Belgium 2-0. One foot was already in the next round.
Then Lukaku scored one. In the 89th minute, Tielemans scored another. Three minutes, two goals, from certain victory to extra time. During stoppage time in extra time, a Belgian stood at the penalty spot and kicked Senegal back home. 2-3.
Pape Gueye watched it all from the bench.
In the 66th minute, head coach Pape Thiaw substituted him off. At that point, the team was still leading by two goals, and there was no sign on the pitch that any adjustment was needed. But Gueye was still taken off. His replacement was Lamine Camara. Twenty minutes later, it was Camara who committed a foul in the box, conceding the fatal penalty.
A 27-year-old Villarreal midfield core, valued at an estimated 40 million euros, with 45 caps and 7 goals for the national team, having scored 2 goals in the group stage of this World Cup. Over three World Cup matches, he was substituted off every time in the 60-something minute.
This is not rotation. This is a head coach systematically telling his core player: I don't trust you.
Gueye posted a lengthy black-background text on Instagram after the match. Only one sentence was key: As long as the coaching staff led by Pape Thiaw continues to coach, he will temporarily withdraw from the national team. The post ended with a line saying, "I will comment further later."
Everyone understood the meaning of those words—this is not over.
The conflict didn't explode just from this match. According to Foot Mercato citing DS Sports, Gueye had two conflicts with FA officials during this tournament, with the second one almost escalating into physical violence. What Gueye said to those people at the time was straightforward: "You’ve ruined the team. You are completely unqualified for this job."
This wasn't just dirty words said in the heat of the moment. The African Cup of Nations prize money hasn't been paid yet, and the players were also dissatisfied with the food at the hotel in New Jersey. These off-field messes were usually suppressed by wins, but all came to the surface during those three minutes from the 86th to the 89th.
Thiaw's credibility issue is older than this collapse. In the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, Senegal vs. Morocco, the 45-year-old manager did something rare in African football history—led the team to withdraw from the match. The championship title was later revoked, and the FA is still appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A final, without finishing it, they returned the trophy.
An online petition calling for his dismissal has already garnered over 30,000 signatures. Thiaw's post-match explanation for substituting Gueye was "the player was physically exhausted" and "uncomfortable." That would have been the standard answer if they had won. After a 2-0 lead was overturned, every word is evidence.
The 36-year-old veteran Idrissa Gana Gueye then came out to calm things down, criticizing the media's "demonization" of the veterans. He said the veterans, "like other teams, are just trying to ensure the team runs smoothly."
Smooth running. Senegal only barely squeezed into the knockout stage as the best third-placed team in the group stage. After finally making it to their opponent, with a 2-0 lead, they gave it all back in three minutes, and then took another blow in extra time. That's not running; that's falling apart.
The president publicly expressed support for the national team. Over 30,000 people online called for a coaching change. On one side, maintaining stability; on the other, shouting insults. The crack in the middle of these two parallel lines is what Senegalese football looks like right now.
Gueye said he would post another message later to fully explain this elimination.
That post hasn't been published yet.