Seattle World Cup: Belgium beats Senegal 3-2 on late penalty

Youri Tielemans scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time of extra time, and Belgium came back from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 Wednesday.

BY ANDREW DESTIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Jul 1, 2026, 4:19 PM Updated: 4:29 pm

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Seattle World Cup Belgium Senegal penalty goal...

Youri Tielemans of Belgium converts the penalty to score in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 32 match against Senegal Seattle. (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

(Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

SEATTLE (AP) — Youri Tielemans scored from the penalty spot in stoppage time of extra time, and Belgium came back from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 Wednesday in the round of 32 at the World Cup.

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Tielemans was fouled just before the end of the 30 minutes of extra time were finished and the referee awarded the penalty after a video review.

TIELEMANS BURIES THE PEN AND BELGIUM TAKES THE LEAD LATE IN EXTRA TIME 😱

AN INSANE LAST FEW MINUTES OF THIS MATCH IN SEATTLE pic.twitter.com/2LjpKssmgM

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 1, 2026

Habib Diarra and Ismaïla Sarr gave the Senegalese a 2-0 lead, but Belgium substitute Romelu Lukaku got one back in the 86th minute and Tielemans equalized in the 89th.

Tielemans was fouled by Lamine Camara in the area in the final seconds of extra time. The referee took several minutes to go over the video before awarding the penalty.

Belgium is back in the round of 16 for the third time in four tournaments. The team reached the quarterfinals in 2014 and the semifinals in 2018 but failed to get out of the group stage four years ago in Qatar.

The Belgians will next face either the United States or Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday in Santa Clara, California.

Sarr scored his fourth goal of the World Cup, and one of the most beautiful of the tournament, to give Senegal a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute. He made a perfect first touch off his chest on a long ball from Moussa Niakhaté and then sent his shot past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

WHAT A BALL. WHAT A TOUCH. WHAT A FINISH!

Ismaïla Sarr scores and Senegal leads Belgium 2-0 🇸🇳 pic.twitter.com/Nt66ZAPu9O

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 1, 2026

Senegal, which was without goalkeeper Édouard Mendy because of a knee injury, took the lead on Diarra’s goal in the 25th minute. But Lukaku started the comeback by scoring with time running down and Tielemans forced extra time less than three minutes later.

SENEGAL LEADS BELGIUM IN SEATTLE 🇸🇳

Habib Diarra off the rebound for the goal! pic.twitter.com/sZaGqBpCqm

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 1, 2026

Senegal had advanced to the knockout round as one of the best third-place finishers, ending up in that spot after playing in a tough group with two-time champion France and the Erling Haaland-led Norway.

Belgium players Kevin De Bruyne and Jérémy Doku both surprisingly came off in the 56th minute.

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