Senegal and Iraq meet in last-chance saloon

TORONTO, June 24 : Senegal were touted as a team with potential to go far at the World Cup, but successive defeats have them teetering on the brink of elimination and they need a comprehensive win over Iraq on Friday.

For Iraq, it is a similar predicament as they have also lost their opening two Group I games to France and Norway, who have taken the top two places and advanced to the last 32.

Iraq and Senegal are scrambling to progress as one of the eight best third-placed teams across the 12 groups, but even if there is a winner when the two sides meet at the Toronto Stadium, they would likely have an anxious wait until the group stage concludes late on Saturday before knowing whether their three-point haul is enough to reach the knockout stage.

While Iraq were always expected to struggle against the two European sides in the group, Senegal had high hopes of making a strong early statement and laying down their credentials.

FAMOUS UPSET

They had famously upset then holders France in the opening game of the 2002 World Cup and were looking to repeat those heroics in New York in their first game of this year's finals, but took a massive blow to their confidence as the French eased to a 3-1 win.

Mistakes cost them dearly against Norway on Monday as they lost 3-2, gifting Erling Haaland opportunities he needed no second invitation to snap up.

Senegal, whose first-choice goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was injured against Norway and will not play against Iraq, have looked far removed from the team who won the Africa Cup of Nations in January (a title they have since been stripped of) amid reports of wrangling over money. But coach Pape Bouna Thiaw said before the Norway game that all administrative matters had been settled.

After losing on Monday, Thiaw was clear that he felt their tournament was not yet over and that they could beat Iraq, whose coach Graham Arnold believes the same for his side.

“With eight third-placed teams going through, we've still got a chance," Arnold said after his team lost 3-0 to France in Philadelphia on Monday.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Ed Osmond)