Even by the standards of this World Cup, this was ridiculous.
Belgium produced the biggest comeback victory of the 2026 tournament so far, rallying after going 2-0 down to equalise through Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans in the space of five mad minutes late in normal time. They then snatched a 3-2 win deep in added time of extra time through Tielemans’ penalty, awarded after a VAR review, to advance to the last 16. At 125 minutes, it is the latest goal in the history of the World Cup finals.
It was a thrilling win but heartbreaking for Senegal, who looked completely in control after goals either side of half-time from Habib Diarra and Ismaila Sarr. This defeat will take some time to get over.
Here, we analyse the major talking points.
Was it a penalty?
The contentious penalty decision was caused by Lamine Camara’s right leg, attempting to slide the ball away from danger after a low cross into the box.
The question was whether Camara, at the near post, had caught Tielemans’ left boot. As the ball went out of play, the Video Assistant Referee started to check the incident.
Heading into the 120th minute, Tielemans was so sure referee Said Martinez, after going over to the screen upon the recommendation of VAR, would overturn the initial decision that he took up his position next to the spot. It took several replays before a penalty was finally awarded.
Youri Tielemans is fouled by Lamine Camara (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Senegal reacted with a combination of disbelief and anger, provoking similarities to how they walked off the pitch in the Africa Cup of Nations final back in January, following another disputable late penalty decision. This later led to their eventual AFCON victory being overturned in opponents Morocco’s favour.
Today, it all became quite unedifying. Defender Pathe Ciss went down injured, conveniently right on the penalty spot after a tap from Diego Moreira of Belgium, taking the time between the adjudged foul and the penalty being taken to over seven minutes.
Lukaku had the ball in his hands before acting as the decoy, handing it on to Tielemans. Belgium’s captain, having also scored the equaliser in the 89th minute, stepped up supremely, showing every inch of his experience and technique.
Under huge pressure, he whipped a shot high into the top right corner with expert precision.
Jacob Tanswell
How heartbreaking was it for Senegal?
This will sting.
Senegal were in control for 86 minutes, leading by two goals for 35 of those after Sarr’s splendidly taken goal. Pape Thiaw’s men could have had more too, with Sarr having hit the post twice before Diarra’s opener midway through the first half.
Their attack, with Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye and Sadio Mane, was humming. Behind them, the midfield trio of goalscorer Diarra, Pape Gueye and Idrissa Gueye rotated well. They provided the stamina needed to help Senegal’s defence ward off Belgian attacks too.
Two lapses in concentration meant they were punished by opponents who had offered little up to that point. That is how brutal these games can be at the highest level.
Senegal know that, having had the margins work in their favour at the Africa Cup of Nations final five months ago. They had a goal disallowed and then a penalty awarded against them by VAR in second-half stoppage time, resulting in them walking off the pitch in protest and only returning following a dramatic 17-minute delay.
They then won that game thanks to Edouard Mendy’s penalty save and Pape Gueye’s goal early in extra time.
They have not been able to fully celebrate that result either. The African Football Federation’s Appeal Board ruled that they had to forfeit the game, announcing a 3-0 win, and the title, for Morocco. Senegal appealed that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and are still waiting for a decision.
Heartbreak for Senegal. This could, and should, have ended differently.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
How did Belgium come back from the dead?
With 86 minutes on the clock in Seattle, it was effectively all over. Senegal were 2-0 up, their fans were partying in the stands and Belgium were going through the motions.
The Belgian golden generation’s obituaries were being written, not least after their greatest ever player, Kevin De Bruyne — plus a seemingly disgusted Jeremy Doku — were substituted with just 55 minutes gone. Senegal were excellent value for their famous and imminent victory.
Precisely 159 seconds later, the score was 2-2 thanks to one of the most unlikely World Cup comebacks in living memory.
No one at Lumen Field or watching on TV saw it coming, surely not even Belgium head coach Rudi Garcia, who had made those bold substitutions seemingly out of sheer desperation.
The first goal felt like a consolation, with half-time substitute Lukaku converting Thomas Meunier’s cutback, but Senegal panicked, moaned about the ball (which was soon replaced) and lost concentration, not least goalkeeper Mory Diaw, who leapt off his line and got nowhere near Leandro Trossard’s cross onto the head of Tielemens.
Despite the comeback, a Senegal win still seemed the most likely result in extra time but they spurned a couple of good opportunities and then, out of the blue, came Belgium’s late, late penalty, brilliantly converted by Tielemans after an achingly long delay.
It was a comeback as devastatingly clinical as it was unlikely, recalling a previous miraculous Belgium recovery when they came from two down to beat Japan 3-2 in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup. This was the first example in this tournament of a team rallying from a 2-0 deficit and was an occasion nobody who witnessed it will ever forget.
Tim Spiers
Is Sarr this World Cup’s most underrated player?
Sarr is perhaps still criminally underrated — unless you are a Liverpool or Aston Villa supporter, given his exceptional records against both clubs in English football.
A multi-faceted forward who can operate in several positions, Sarr scored 21 goals for Crystal Palace in 43 appearances last season. Here against Belgium, he was operating more centrally than he would at his club (where he tends to be stationed on the right), yet remained extremely effective. Palace’s approach last season, similarly to Sarr’s role with Senegal, is conducive to the 28-year-old’s natural strengths, which are the power to break at speed, either running into wide spaces to receive the ball or carrying forward himself.
Part of a rotational front three with Mane and Ndiaye, Sarr was direct and enthralling, working tirelessly. He only completed five passes in the first half, yet was unfortunate not to score, registering three shots and hitting the same post twice. Against a creaking, passive Belgium team who had to push forward after Senegal’s opener, leaving the two central defenders exposed, his pace in behind remained a threat.
He earned his reward early in the second half, however, with an emphatic finish. Positioning himself between Belgium’s two centre-backs, Sarr controlled Moussa Niakhate’s long pass with his chest, his eyes fixed firmly as the ball arrived over his left shoulder, before waiting for it to drop and thundering a shot into the net.
Ismaila Sarr smashes in Senegal’s second goal (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
It was his fourth goal in as many matches at this tournament (just two shy of Kylian Mbappe, its leading scorer) and seemed to kill the tie.
Sarr may not be regarded as Senegal’s talismanic figure yet, with Mane still leading the side at age 34, but he is unquestionably a player who continues to improve and refine his game.
Jacob Tanswell
Should the U.S. be concerned by potential Belgium tie?
About 800 miles down the Pacific coast, U.S. men’s national team fans watched the dramatic final stages of Belgium’s win from the concourses of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, south of San Francisco, where the USMNT was getting set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina in another round of 32 game.
They watched with keen interest because Belgium will now meet the winner of the U.S.-Bosnia match in the last 16. And at first glance, on paper, the result in Seattle presents potential trouble for the Americans. The USMNT lost to Belgium, 5-2, in March. In that Atlanta friendly, Mauricio Pochettino’s men succumbed to some of the same attacking quality that propelled today’s comeback against Senegal.
That quality would be the worry if the U.S. beats Bosnia to set up a rematch at Lumen Field on Monday (early Tuesday UK time). The Americans can absolutely play with Belgium between the penalty boxes, as they did throughout the first half of that game in March. But they have struggled to match the ruthless, clinical finishing that sets apart the top European teams.
The U.S. hasn’t beaten one of those teams in more than a decade. Even if it ends its years-long losing streak to European teams this evening, it will still have to hit a level against Belgium it hasn’t hit in a long time. For the first time at this World Cup, it would meet a foe with multiple players — Trossard, De Bruyne, Doku — who are a clear step above anybody in the U.S. squad.
But the Americans would also have advantages.
For significant chunks of all four of its games at this World Cup, Belgium has looked old and stagnant. The USMNT, at the other end of the spectrum, overwhelmed Paraguay and Australia with its speed of play and pressing. The U.S. would be more athletic than Belgium at nearly every position on the field (except Doku’s), and could likely seize control of the game.
So, all in all, this is not a bad result from the United States’ perspective.
Henry Bushnell
Which unlikely Premier League teams are ‘winning’ this World Cup?
When it comes to which club is ‘winning’ the 2026 World Cup — i.e. which team’s players have scored the most goals so far during the tournament — there are a couple of the usual suspects at the top of the list.
Real Madrid (13) and Paris Saint-Germain (11) players have provided the most goals, which is no surprise given they have the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola in their squad.
But who are in joint-third place? Manchester City? Bayern Munich? No. It’s Sunderland and Crystal Palace, obviously.
Players from the clubs who finished seventh and 15th respectively in the Premier League last season have provided eight goals apiece, with one each for Senegal today.
Habib Diarra celebrates Senegal’s opener (Ercin Erturk/Anadolu via Getty Images)
It was Diarra’s second goal of the tournament, with six others coming from his Stadium of Light colleagues Brian Brobbey (Netherlands, three), Nilson Angulo (Ecuador, one), Wilson Isidor (Haiti, one) and Granit Xhaka (Switzerland, one).
Five Sunderland players have found the net in total, placing their club one behind Tottenham Hotspur (2018) and Manchester United (2014) for the most different scorers from one English club at a men’s World Cup. Three Palace players have scored, with the scintillating Sarr netting half of their eight, plus two from both Colombia’s Daniel Munoz and Daichi Kamada of Japan.
Perhaps nothing sums up the power of the Premier League more than Sunderland and Palace offering almost as much to this World Cup as Madrid and PSG.
Tim Spiers
