Senegal boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the ongoing FIFA World Cup after a 5-0 hammering of Iraq in the closing fixture of their involvement in group stages matches.
The Teranga Lions, knowing fully well that only a goal-loaded win over the Asian side would give them a faint hope of being eligible for the Round of 16, scored in the opening six matches of game through Habib Diara who bundled home the ball following a corner kick situation to score the team’s fastest goal in the competition, before striker Ismaila Sarr made it two also early on in the second half.
Senegal were not done yet as coach, Bouna Thiaw, brought on forwards, Nicholas Jackson, Ilman Ndiaye, and Pape Gueye, the latter, powering a long-ranger with his first involvement in the babe, as well as making it a brace, to record the fourth goal for the West Africans, after which his fellow substitute, Ndiaye made it five as he latched on to a pass and unleashes a perfect strike from the edge of the box that goes into the top right corner of the goal and past the goalkeeper.
Iraq, themselves, continued their wobbling performance at the mundial competition as they have lost all six games they have featured in, after making their debut in 1982.
In the other Group I game, Ousmane Dembele was on rampage, scoring a hat trick for France as Les Blues secured a convincing 4-1 win over Norway, both sides strolling to the knockout stage.
Dembele scored his three goals inside 32 minutes as France defeated a rotated Norway side to finish top of the group, to become the first player to score three goals in the opening half of a match in the tournament since Russia’s Oleg Salenko in 1994, and also the second-quickest World Cup hat-trick ever from the start of a match, behind Erich Probst’s 24-minute treble in 1954 for Austria.
France completely dominated the early stages and deservedly broke through in the seventh minute. Having won the ball in Norway’s half, Mbappe spread it wide right to Dembele in space. The Ballon d’Or winner squared up his marker and slammed home past Egil Selvik.
It was 2-0 in the 20th minute when Dembele completed a lightning counter-attack by cutting off the right-hand side on to his wizardly left foot and whipped a curling shot into the far corner.
Norway struck back within 79 seconds, the French defence declining to respond to an attack straight from the kick-off which ended in Rangers attacker Thelo Aasgaard sweeping the ball past a wrong-footed Mike Maignan.
But Dembele was far from done, as he moved himself into contention as the tournament’s top scorer with his fourth goal.
Again he cut on to his left foot and, with four surrounding defenders paralysed by fear, curled another effort past Norway reserve keeper Selvik.
He was subbed off after 65 minutes as the tempo dropped after the break, but his Paris St-Germain team-mate Desire Doue stepped up to add a fourth in the 94th minute with a looping header.