Senegal beat Iraq 3-0 in Toronto on Friday, and Pape Gueye was the reason the result felt bigger than a routine group-stage win. He scored twice, including a half-volley after a loose ball dropped at the edge of the area, as Senegal finished its phase of groups on the best possible note after two defeats in its first two matches.
The victory improved Senegal's goal difference and kept the team in the race to reach the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams. That matters because the margin does not send Senegal through automatically; it only strengthens its place in the comparison table that decides which third-placed teams advance.
Gueye gave Senegal control early and then removed any doubt with his second goal, while Sarr added the third after Lamine Camara recovered the ball and sent in a good cross in front of the goal. It was the kind of performance Senegal needed after the pressure of starting the tournament with two defeats, especially in a final group match where every goal could alter the standings.
The qualification picture is still unforgiving. Senegal can only move on if its result holds up against the other third-placed teams from the group phase, which is why the 3-0 margin matters as much as the three points in the broader race. A smaller win might have left the team with too much ground to make up on goal difference, and that is the edge Senegal has now improved without fully securing its place.
Friday also brought another headline in the same tournament picture when France beat Norvège 4-1 behind an Ousmane Dembélé hat-trick, a result that sent France to first place in groupe I. Dembélé joined Just Fontaine and Kylian Mbappé on the short list of France players to score a World Cup hat-trick, while Senegal's task remains more complicated: wait for the best-third-place comparison to sort out whether this convincing win is enough.
