Senegal’s National Men’s Football Team head coach Pape Thiaw has blamed referee Said Martinez for his team’s elimination from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
He said this after the Teranga Lions lost 3-2 to Belgium at the round of 32 stage after extra time despite taking a 2-0 lead after 51 minutes.
Youri Tielemans scored Belgium’s second and third goals in controversial fashion as his header for Belgium’s equalizer came after he seemingly pushed a Senegal defender while Lamine Camara’s foul that led to Belgium’s converted penalty split opinions leading Pape Thiaw to state according to RTS Senegal that,
“We were eliminated by the referee’s decision, it hurts, that’s for sure. Afterwards, we have to congratulate the team who gave everything, but unfortunately, we couldn’t manage when we were leading 2-0 and once they came back, it wasn’t easy.”
“The penalty is open to discussion, everyone can have their own interpretation. I don’t want to get into that.”
