Figure caption,

Impressive Senegal overwhelm 10-man Iraq

At a glance

  • Senegal score the opening goal inside four minutes through Habib Diarra

  • Iraq go down to 10 men early as defender Rebin Sulaka is sent off for a foul on Sadio Mane

  • Ismaila Sarr doubles Senegal's lead early in second half after costly mistake by Zidane Iqbal

  • Pape Gueye comes off the bench to score twice before Iliman Ndiaye seals 5-0 victory

  • Senegal must wait to confirm their place in the last 32 as Iraq bow out

  • PLAYER RATER

ByAdwaidh Rajan
BBC Sport journalist

Senegal boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup with a 5-0 victory against 10-man Iraq.

The Lions of Teranga finished third in Group I with three points to climb to fifth among third-placed teams, but they will still need results elsewhere to go their way to secure a place in the last 32.

Senegal played a near-perfect game in Toronto as they looked to bounce back from defeats by France and Norway, and the result pushed Scotland down to ninth in the table of third-placed sides - with eight to advance to the next round.

That did not mean Scotland's hopes were absolutely at an end, as later games could still influence their standing, but they were rapidly fading.

Fast-starting Senegal opened the scoring after only four minutes. Abdoulaye Seck's header from a corner took a decisive deflection off Sunderland midfielder Habib Diarra on its way past Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.

Iraq's problems were compounded nine minutes later when referee Anthony Taylor sent off defender Rebin Sulaka for pulling down Sadio Mane at the edge of the penalty area - deeming it denial of a goalscoring opportunity after a video assistant referee review.

Mane tested Basil from the resulting free-kick, but Pape Thiaw's side, who needed goals to improve their goal difference and thereby their chances of progressing to the next stage, failed to register another shot on target in the first half.

But they capitalised on former Manchester United midfielder Zidane Iqbal giving away possession at the edge of the box as Lamine Camara cut the ball back for Ismaila Sarr to apply a simple finish to make it 2-0 in the 56th minute.

Their lead was extended three minutes later as Pape Gueye curled a left-foot strike into the top corner - his first involvement after coming on moments earlier.

Villarreal defensive midfielder Gueye added his second goal with another thunderous effort in the 71st minute before fellow substitute Iliman Ndiaye sealed the 5-0 win, that they would hope will be enough to send them through to the knockout stage.

 Habib Diarra and Senegal team-mates celebrate their opening goalImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Senegal have reached the knockout stages in two of their past three World Cup appearances

Player of the match

Number: 21 H. Diarra
Average rating 8.70
Number: 21 H. Diarra
Average Rating: 8.70
Number: 5 I. Gueye
Average Rating: 8.34
Number: 13 I. Ndiaye
Average Rating: 8.34
Number: 26 P. Gueye
Average Rating: 8.26
Number: 18 I. Sarr
Average Rating: 8.10
Number: 10 S. Mané
Average Rating: 8.02
Number: 6 P. Ciss
Average Rating: 7.67
Number: 4 A. Seck
Average Rating: 7.60
Number: 23 M. Diaw
Average Rating: 7.60
Number: 11 N. Jackson
Average Rating: 7.44
Number: 8 L. Camara
Average Rating: 7.38
Number: 7 A. Diao
Average Rating: 7.32
Number: 19 M. Niakhaté
Average Rating: 7.29
Number: 20 I. Mbaye
Average Rating: 7.27
Number: 15 K. Diatta
Average Rating: 7.25
Number: 14 I. Jakobs
Average Rating: 7.22

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.