124 minutes and 44 seconds. That is the precise moment Youri Tielemans converted his penalty to score the latest goal ever recorded in World Cup history, sending Belgium into the last 16 and condemning Senegal to yet another devastating exit. A 2-0 lead with four minutes of normal time remaining, and somehow the Lions of Teranga walked away with nothing. Football rarely produces cruelty this precise.
A collapse that defied logic
Senegal controlled this match. For the better part of 70 minutes, Pape Thiaw’s side were sharper, more organised, and frankly better than a Belgium team that looked short of ideas. Habib Diarra opened the scoring, then Ismaila Sarr doubled the advantage, and the path to the round of 16 looked clear. Nobody in their right mind would have predicted what came next.
Then Romelu Lukaku arrived. The 33-year-old striker, who had managed only 69 minutes of club football across the entire previous season, came off the bench and immediately changed the game’s rhythm. His flick from Thomas Meunier’s cross in the 86th minute gave Belgium a lifeline. Three minutes later, goalkeeper Mory Diaw failed to claim Leandro Trossard’s cross, and Tielemans headed into an empty net. From 2-0 up to 2-2 in the final four minutes. The kind of sequence you would dismiss as too dramatic if you read it in a novel.
Roy Keane, former Republic of Ireland captain, summarised it bluntly on ITV : Senegal “found a way to lose the game.” Dion Dublin, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, put it plainly : “Football is just crazy. I couldn’t call any of this game.” These are not just pundit clichés. This Belgium comeback is statistically unprecedented : no side had ever trailed by two or more goals this late in regulation time at a World Cup and avoided defeat. It simply had not happened before.
Context matters here. Belgium are only the second nation to achieve this kind of turnaround at a World Cup, after Germany managed it against Hungary in 1954 and England in 1970. Remarkably, Belgium themselves pulled off a similar comeback against Japan in 2018, winning 3-2 from two goals down in Rostov. Thibaut Courtois, Kevin de Bruyne, Meunier and Lukaku all played that day. Eight years later, the same veterans delivered again.
The VAR penalty that sparked fury
If the equaliser was dramatic, the winning goal was explosive in its controversy. Deep into extra time, a VAR review led to a penalty being awarded against Lamine Camara for a challenge on Tielemans. The Belgium captain stepped up and buried it at 124 minutes 44 seconds. The decision immediately divided opinions, and not along neutral lines.
Gary Neville was unambiguous on ITV : “I genuinely don’t believe that is a penalty.” Keane went further, criticising not just the call but the process : “The penalty is a bit harsh and the referee took so long to look at the screen. You want conviction in the referee’s decision and he was hesitating for a long time.” The length of the review, the lateness of the moment, the scale of its consequences : every element fed the controversy.
For Senegal, this scene carried a painful echo. In January 2026, during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat against Morocco, a stoppage-time penalty was awarded via VAR for a challenge by El Hadji Malick Diouf on Brahim Diaz. The consequences were catastrophic. Coach Thiaw led his players off the pitch in protest, a decision that ultimately cost them the title despite a 1-0 win on the night. Senegal were stripped of the AFCON trophy. Now, months later, another VAR penalty in the dying stages of a major tournament. The hurt is compounded, not just replicated.
Thiaw kept his composure after the final whistle : “We must congratulate the team, who gave it their all, but unfortunately we weren’t able to hold on to our two-goal lead. We have to accept this.” These are the words of a coach managing grief in real time.
| Key moment | Time | Player |
|---|---|---|
| Senegal first goal | ~55′ | Habib Diarra |
| Senegal second goal | ~70′ | Ismaila Sarr |
| Belgium first goal | 86′ | Romelu Lukaku |
| Belgium equaliser | 89′ | Youri Tielemans |
| Winning penalty (record) | 124’44” | Youri Tielemans |
Belgium’s old guard and what comes next
This Belgium squad is ageing. Of the side that finished third at Russia 2018, only five players remain : Courtois, De Bruyne, Meunier, Lukaku, and the 37-year-old Axel Witsel. Wednesday’s performance was far from convincing, and De Bruyne was substituted at 58 minutes, his frustration visible. Yet the veteran core delivered when it mattered most.
Even the team’s internal tensions made headlines. During a hydration break in the second half, Tielemans and Trossard were seen in a heated argument. Dublin noted on radio : “They are at each other’s throats and it’s boiling over.” Remarkably, Lukaku stepped in as peacemaker. The same player who then changed the game entirely.
Three things explain how Belgium survived this match despite themselves :
- Lukaku’s impact off the bench, despite months of near-inactivity at club level
- Meunier’s delivery for the first goal, a moment of veteran precision
- Tielemans’ composure in converting under extreme pressure, twice
Rudi Garcia’s post-match comment pointed to squad depth : “The strength of this squad also lies in the players who come off the bench, because you can’t get results with just 11 players.” Belgium now face co-hosts United States in the round of 16. The question is whether this emotional rollercoaster drains or galvanises them. For Senegal, the harder question is how a squad absorbs this level of repeated heartbreak and rebuilds its belief for the cycle ahead.
