Senegal Head Coach Pape Thiaw Insists Hope Not Lost At 2026 World Cup

Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw remains confident the Teranga Lions can still reach the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 32 despite suffering a second straight defeat in the group stage.

The West Africans followed up their 3-1 opening loss to France with a narrow 3-2 defeat to Norway, leaving their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.

Despite the setback, Senegal still have one final group fixture against Iraq. Victory in that match could be enough to secure progression as one of the tournament’s best third-placed teams.

Thiaw refused to write off his side’s chances, insisting the campaign is far from over.

“We’ve got one match to go, and we need to focus on this last game, and try it and get three points and then cross our fingers,” Thiaw said after the defeat.

The result marked an unwanted milestone for Senegal, who have now begun a World Cup campaign with back-to-back defeats for the first time in their history. Yet Thiaw believes there is still everything to play for.

“I think it’s a little bit too early to say that we failed. We’re not dead. We’re not in a good position, and it is true that it’s the first time that Senegal has started a World Cup campaign with two defeats,” he said.

“But we’ve still got a chance to qualify, and we’re going to focus on the last game. We want to try and get those three points and hope that we can go through.”

The coach also stressed that reaching the knockout phase would give his players a fresh opportunity to reset and challenge the tournament’s bigger nations.

“Once you’re in the next round, then it’s another tournament that starts,” he noted.

Senegal must now beat Iraq and hope results elsewhere work in their favour as they attempt to rescue a campaign that has so far failed to deliver.