For 85 minutes, Senegal had the run of play. The African team held a two-goal lead, and had all but secured a spot in the round of 16 at the World Cup.
Within 5 minutes, it crumbled.
“We were at the heart of writing the beautiful pages of the history of our football in this world,” defender Krépin Diatta said. “And, we have to accept that we failed at our mission.”
Late goals by Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans tied the score in the final minutes of regulation time, and Tielemans completed Belgium’s 3-2 comeback win by converting a penalty just before the end of extra time, The Associated Press reported.
The Lions of Teranga would have been the second African team in the tournament to advance to the round of 16. Morocco, one of nine African teams which reached the knockout round, already advanced with a penalty shootout victory against the Netherlands on Monday.
But now, Senegal is shockingly headed home.
“We’re disappointed,” Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra said. “We had a good first half, but it wasn’t enough. A match lasts 90 minutes, and we’re devastated. It’s very tough. I don’t know what to say. When you’re on the pitch, you have to give your all, and that’s not what we did. We’ve only got ourselves to blame.”
Senegal advanced to the World Cup knockout phase as one of the best third-place finishers after losing to France and Norway and beating Iraq. It survived one of the toughest groups in the tournament, and looked the part of one of the stronger teams in the World Cup most of the afternoon against Belgium.
Lukaku’s late goal injected life into Belgium, though, and kept the Group G winners on life support before the referee awarded Belgium a penalty deep into extra time. Senegal’s players protested the decision, but to no avail.
Diatta gave credit to Belgium for turning the game around, but said Senegal shouldn’t have let it happen.
“They (did) the job and they proved they can come back. I think the problem was our side,” Diatta said. “We had to win this game. These kinds of tight games in the box, we have to give everything and not give them a chance.”
Serena Williams could be forced to pull out of the Wimbledon doubles event after the American legend suffered a knee injury in her first-round singles defeat.
Williams, playing her first singles match in four years, was beaten by Australia’s Maya Joint in a three-set epic on Centre Court late on Tuesday evening.
The 44-year-old, who retired in 2022, made a sensational comeback in June, playing doubles tournaments at Queen’s Club and Berlin.
She is due to join forces with sister Venus Williams in the women’s doubles first round against Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra.
There had been no indication of any injury to the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion during the Joint loss.
But Serena did not attend the mandatory post-match press conference, instead issuing a short quote through tournament organizers.
Players can be fined for skipping media duties, but it was revealed on Wednesday that Williams is dealing with a knee problem.
A statement from the seven-time Wimbledon singles champion’s agent Jill Smoller read: “Serena tweaked her right knee at the end of the first set and was therefore excused from her media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams.
“She left site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match later this week.”
Williams later added on Instagram: “It felt so good to be back on the grass at Wimbledon. I’m incredibly thankful for the wild card – and even more grateful my daughters got to see that it’s never too late to chase something you love.
“I tweaked my knee late in the first set, but I’ll be doing everything I can to be ready for doubles with Venus Williams.
“Congratulations to Maya Joint on a great match, and thank you to everyone who showed up and showed me so much love. That feeling will never get old.”
Serena and Venus, 46, who were given a wildcard entry into the tournament, have won the Wimbledon doubles six times, with their most recent title coming in 2016.
Serena has not won a Grand Slam singles crown since the 2017 Australian Open, while Venus last lifted a major singles trophy at Wimbledon in 2008.
Serena said her astonishing comeback was motivated by a desire to play in front of her two young daughters.
Her children watched their mother’s loss to Joint alongside her husband Alexis Ohanian and Venus in the players’ box on Tuesday.
Three people died from suffocation as thousands of fans crowded Mexico City streets during World Cup celebrations, the capital’s health secretariat said in the early hours of Wednesday.
The deaths occurred near the Angel of Independence landmark, where thousands of football fans had gathered to celebrate Mexico’s 2-0 victory over Ecuador in the round of 32.
Emergency teams tended to three unconscious people at different locations around Paseo de la Reforma, authorities said. The capital’s most emblematic boulevard and the streets around it had been closed to traffic and set up for the soccer celebrations.
“After receiving advanced resuscitation efforts, the deaths of a 44-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman from suffocation have been confirmed,” the health authority initially said on social media.
The third fatality was a 48-year-old woman who was treated on a nearby street after suffering asphyxiation and died after being taken to hospital, the secretariat added in a later post.
Mayor Clara Brugada expressed her condolences to the families of the victims on X and urged everyone to “always celebrate with responsibility, care, and empathy”.
Mexicans took to the streets to celebrate after the national team ended a 40-year wait for a World Cup knockout victory at the Azteca Stadium in the capital, with the win against Ecuador sending the co-hosts into the last 16.
The fans’ euphoria, amid cheering and chants, contrasted with images shared on social media of emergency responders and paramedics tending to distressed people lying on the ground in nearby streets.
With more than 20 million residents, Mexico City’s metropolitan area is one of the most populous on the planet and is accustomed to large celebrations and huge crowds of people.
Kylian Mbappe has been on Lionel Messi’s heels as both players break new ground in World Cup scoring, but the Frenchman is more obsessed by lifting the trophy in New York on July 19 than becoming marksman supreme.
The 27-year-old netted a double as Les Bleus crushed Sweden 3-0 in the round of 32 on Tuesday to move one shy of Messi’s record 19 goals at World Cups and join him on top of the scoring charts in this edition with six.
“I think the goal, as I said, is to go as far as possible – to make it to (the final on) July 19th and come back here,” Mbappe, who scored his 18 goals in 18 games, told reporters.
“We’re trying to win; we’re taking it one step at a time. Of course, the more goals you score, the higher you climb in the rankings – I’m not telling anyone anything new there.
“But I’m also convinced that Leo is going to score more goals, so I don’t focus too much on that. I’m more focused on the opponents we might face and how close we’re getting to our goal: the final.”
Messi’s Argentina face minnows Cape Verde in the last 32 on Friday. France next take on Paraguay for a place in the quarter-finals, where they would face either co-hosts Canada or Morocco.
Paraguay took an ultra-defensive approach against Germany to knock the four-times world champions out on penalties in the last 32 on Monday and there is little chance that they will go out swashbuckling against France in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Les Bleus will not take anything for granted and will do their homework, Mbappe warned.
“I think we’ll keep working between now and the Paraguay match to see what we can improve, because there are still some sequences that aren’t quite clear enough, there’s room for improvement,” he said.
“Still, I think it’s positive overall, and our ability to score goals means we always have the chance to take the lead in matches.”
