Five African teams have been ousted from the 2026 World Cup due to their defensive indisciplines, the latest being Senegal who surrendered their 2-0 lead to suffered 3-2 loss to Belgium.
Many of the African teams started their games well but the resilience needed to complete them was not always there, with some of them losing at the death to their opponents to end their dreams of clinching the trophy for the first time.
Senegal got an early lead against Belgium in the 25th minute through Habib Diarra and got the second in a spectacular manner through Ismaila Sarr.
The Terenga Lions were able to sustain the lead until 86th minute before Napoli star, Romelu Lukaku reduced the deficit and just three minutes later, Youri Tielemans equalised to force the game into an extra-time.
For Senegal to let go of a two-goal lead speaks volume of the defensive approach of the team, led by captain Kalidou Koulibaly.
Senegal’s defenders could only watch helplessly as Tielesmans grabbed his second goal of the game after benefitting from a Video Assistant Referee’s judgement, thus ending the progress of the Terenga Lions in the competition.
The wayout for African team
DR Congo lost in a similar fashion as Senegal, surrendering their lead and early composure to England.
Besides Senegal and DR Congo, South Africa and Ivory Coast as well as Tunisia are already out of the 2026 World Cup, only Morocco have managed to weather the storm and qualify for the round of 16 so far.
To curb this noticeable flaw, African teams need to prepare psychologically for games, especially of this magnitude; the World Cup and coaches need to make intelligent tactical changes and enforce discipline, especially in the defence.
