PHOTO: AFP

A 125th-minute Youri Tielemans penalty ensured Belgium completed a stunning comeback from two goals down to claim a 3-2 Extra Time victory over Senegal in this 2026 FIFA World Cup (WC) Round of 32 tie, extending their unbeaten run to 17 games (W11, D6).

That was after Congo DR had succumbed to England blizzard, losing 1-2 from a goal up. Naivety cost both Africa teams a spot in the R16, losing after taking clear leads. Congo came from leading 1-0 to losing 2-1 to England while Senegal surrendered their 2-0 lead to Belgium with the European side pumping in 3 goals to cancel the deficit and keep the advantage.

This was an intriguing first-ever meeting between Belgium and Senegal who ended their respective group stage campaigns with a flourish after inauspicious starts. But after an early chance fell to Leandro Trossard, Senegal were the team that looked to have carried that momentum into this knockout tie. Ismaïla Sarr came close when his hooked attempt hit the post, shortly before playing a telling role in the game’s opening goal. The Crystal Palace forward saw his header cannon off the post from Sadio Mané’s enticing cross, leaving Habib Diarra on hand to pounce on the rebound and give Pape Thiaw’s side a well-deserved lead.

Confidence was flowing through this Lions de la Téranga side, as Mané played a neat one-two with Diarra before slipping as he pulled the trigger, allowing Thibaut Courtois to make a straightforward save. Belgium were very sluggish in comparison, but could have restored parity when Maxim De Cuyper’s shot from the edge of the area forced a fine one-handed save by Mory Diaw with HT approaching.

Garcia would have hoped for a reaction from his side after the break, but they conceded again six minutes into the second half. Sarr punished some woeful Belgium defending, effortlessly taking Moussa Niakhaté’s long ball into his stride, and then dispatched a clinical strike past Courtois. That was the 28-year-old’s fourth goal at this finals, which is the joint-most by an African player at a single WC, matching Roger Milla’s haul with Cameroon in 1990.

Belgium looked to the bench for a response, and substitute Dodi Lukébakio was not far away from providing it when his left-footed strike sailed inches past the far post. But it was another substitute who halved the deficit, as Romelu Lukaku applied an instinctive near-post finish from Thomas Meunier’s cross. That set up a grandstand finish, as Tielemans sensationally wiped out Senegal’s lead when he beat Diaw to Trossard’s cross, handing Garcia’s men a scarcely believable equaliser.

Belgium began ET brightly, but Senegal gradually regained momentum and came agonisingly close to re-establishing their lead in the first period when Ibrahim Mbaye’s first-time effort flew inches wide from Bara Sapoko Ndiaye’s pass. Lukébakio came even closer to winning the match right at the death when his close-range shot clipped the bar, but referee Saíd Martínez dramatically pointed to the spot after a VAR review determined Lamine Camara had brought down Tielemans in the box. Tielemans stepped up to the spot and was coolness personified in firing his nation into the last 16 in the fifth minute of stoppage time in ET, sending Diaw the wrong way to complete an escape act to rival those of the legendary Harry Houdini.

Senegal were left to rue what might have been, ending hopes of replicating that famous run to the quarter-finals in 2002 after a fifth consecutive WC defeat against European opposition. Meanwhile, Belgium return to Seattle in six days to face the winners of the last-32 clash between the United States and Bosnia & Herzegovina, as their ageing superstars eye one last shot at glory.

-Reporting by Flashfootball