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Dakar, Senegal The silence came before it started. Not out of fear but hope, a nation holding its breath.
All over Dakar, radios blare from open windows. Men huddled shoulder to shoulder in restaurants, their eyes fixed on flashing TVs. Families filled the living rooms. His friends leaned over their phones, the tea getting cold as the conversation began to settle.
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The usual horns of the city, its markets, its quarrels, its laughter – it has not ended. It just committed to something bigger.
Senegal was in the first round of the World Cup, playing against Belgium.
In the 25th minute of the game, a young man from the countryside of Dakar, Habib Diarra, saved the country from its worries, sweeping the ball unmoved beyond the Belgian keeper: 1-0 to Senegal.
Eight thousand kilometers from the game in Seattle, United States, Dakar became the stadium. The celebrations only got bigger when Senegal scored a second goal early in the second half. Confidence turned to ease. Five minutes past normal, car horns blared and gunshots rang out through the night. Victory was at hand.
But the celebrations came too soon.
Belgium has scored once. Then again. All in the space of five minutes, achieving an amazing return. Then, in the final minutes of extra time, Senegal awarded a penalty: 3-2 to Belgium.
The problem is planning
A day later, the calm remains.
Not really crying, but very disbelieving.
“It’s incomprehensible,” says Ferdinand Coly, a former Senegalese footballer. “When you control the game until the 85th minute, you have to finish. But mentally, everything changed.”
Coly believes that the change was not Belgium’s renaissance, but the decisions of Senegal’s coaching staff.
“The substitutes completely changed the game in the middle. There was no need to make them. When Belgium scored, they got a psychological advantage. Senegal started to weaken. They came back, played with fear, and did not recover.”
Coly was part of Senegal’s 2002 World Cup squad, which stunned France in the opening match of the tournament.
“It wasn’t over … until the final whistle,” he said, reflecting on Belgium’s impressive comeback.
Since retiring, Coly has swapped his football boots for farming. He has also worked with the Senegalese Football Federation, and believes the national team has lost sight of the basics.
For him, the problem is not skill but preparation.
He criticizes what he sees as an over-reliance on data, statistics, and work programs, instead of building a collective identity and creating a clear strategy.
When Belgium wanted an equaliser, their coach was still scribbling notes, making changes and taking action until the last minute.
“What a difference! Coly said. “We rely on technology while football is still about reading the game, changing and thinking.”
Same old struggle
Coly’s analysis echoes that of his supporters who are still trying to process the victory that slipped away in the final minutes.
Ibrahima Diop is a huge fan of the Lions of Teranga. He went to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He was jailed in Morocco after trouble at the Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier this year.
During the difficult match – which was played against the hosts, Morocco – the Senegalese coach ordered his players to leave the field after a controversial decision. Senegal won the match, but later forfeited the title due to the incident.
For Diop, the lesson was similar to that of Belgium.
He said: “It affects his mind. “For 85 minutes the team was prepared and united. Then it disappeared. The European teams are ready to fight until the end. We are still struggling in the final minutes.”
Diop also believes that Senegal lacked something immeasurable.
“The team played without its fans. Visa restrictions and financial problems made it impossible for many fans to travel. The players know what it brings. Mentally, it changed.”
US President Donald Trump signed a declaration in December that no visas will be issued to Senegalese people for business or tourism purposes. other countries. This means that only Senegalese fans could not go to the tournament.
Diop sees an example in this World Cup. Ivory Coast, DR Congo, and now Senegal led until the final minutes, only to see victory slip away in empty stadiums.
Cruel to the world
Football is often not just football. This World Cup – which was supposed to unify – has revealed deeper disagreements than standings. A brand can be united to win. But when the referee blows the final whistle, another game begins: the offense game.
Football is opium for many people, says Coly. It has been one of the few moments when political integrity is lost. For 90 minutes, everyone wears the same colors.
“The national team is a bridge,” said Coly. “When Senegal plays, there is no political aspect. It is just Senegal. Sport has a unique ability to unite people beyond their differences.”
This bond makes defeat feel even more overwhelming.
Social media was quickly filled with fifth minutes from the game: missed opportunities, defensive mistakes, and coaching decisions were replayed endlessly.
Under pressure, football often reveals more than the weaknesses of the game.
Babacar Fall, a Senegalese journalist who has closely followed the national team, says the problems started long before they started.
According to him, the uncertainty about the coach’s future, the conflict within the association, and the non-termination of contracts create instability in the game.
“There were already difficulties before the Norway Games,” he says. “The coach’s contract did not expire. There was a disagreement about the selection of players. Then 10 minutes after the Belgian team finished, a substitute broke the entire defense.”
They also compare more broadly.
“The world is paralyzed. There was a lot of hope after the Africa Cup of Nations, just as there was a lot of hope in politics. Today, there are disappointments. In many ways, the collapse of the team shows the way the world is going.”
Those thoughts are about a feeling echoed by many fans in Dakar this week. There is disappointment, not because Senegal lost, but because of how they lost.
The talent was there. The opportunity was there. For most of the match, Senegal looked like the stronger team. Maybe that’s why the silence is lingering.
This generation has raised expectations. Winning the continental titles changed the way Senegal saw itself. Access to knock-on units is not enough; Fans believe that the team should compete with players from around the world.
In the end, it’s just football. But in Senegal, football has become something bigger than a sport. It is a source of national pride, a rare moment of community unity, and a demonstration of potential.
That is why this defeat is so cruel. Not because the match was lost. But because, one evening, it seemed like the whole world could do something in just five minutes.
